Made of Stardust
by Ninjee
Summary: A Teenage!Wholock. Rose Tyler leaves her old school to escape old ghosts, but she didn't count on meeting a fantastic family in which all the male's names are John Smith. Or a mad teenage detective and his long-suffering best friend. Or falling in love with one of the three Smith boys. No, she never expected it at all. But what better way to spend Christmas? (AU, all-human cast)
1. Rose

**The profile picture was drawn by burdge-bug on deviantArt. The link is on my profile. Show her some love, she's excellent!**

* * *

**Chapter One**

Rose Tyler wasn't quite sure how this had started. However it had, though, she was thankful.

She'd moved to this school about a month before now, because it was supposed to be a much better school then the one she'd gone to, and she was trying to get away from…well, that didn't matter, she was here now. She didn't really know that many people yet, but a girl named Martha had shown her around on the first day and had been very friendly. The two of them talked in the hallways, sometimes, but not too terribly often.

Most of the time, she watched. She liked looking at people, trying to guess what they were like.

Things were quiet. She went through the day, did her work, and came home. She wasn't really lonely, but sometimes she did wish she had some people to talk to. She traded jokes with a few kids in her classes, but they seemed to have their own friends and she didn't intrude.

It was after school that she had first met him.

The light on her phone had read _One New Voice Message_ and so she'd answered it, thinking it was probably Mum. It wasn't.

"Aww, come on, babe." The words send a cold shiver down her back.

"Don't be like that. _You and me, we'll always be together_." The voice was falsetto now, mimicking her. "That's what you said, right, babe? That ain't gonna change. I'll find you, wherever you went, and you're gonna be my girl again, aren't you, Rosie?"

_No._ She screamed, muffled, into her hand_. I went here to get away. I can't-he can't-_

She slumped against the wall, and slid until she was sitting, her arms shaking out of sudden, horrible fear. This had always been what he'd done to her, at first she'd thought it was attraction, that he made her weak in the knees, but it was so much worse…

She placed her head in her hands and breathed, in and out, in and out, convincing herself, that yes, she could, she was here and alive, trying to steady herself and failing, and she could feel her body shaking, but not just with cold.

She'd never been more scared, of anything, anyone, ever. She couldn't let him find her again…

She felt a hand on her shoulder and flinched away, hard. The touch had been gentle, and she looked up into a pair of brown eyes.

He had pale eyes. Blue. She'd once thought that they were beautiful.

This wasn't him.

The eyes kept looking at her, patient, with concern. They were a warm sort of brown, and the rest of the face was a boy's, roughly her age, with sideburns and wild brown hair that went off in a million different directions. He had a nice face, which seemed on the verge of a frown as he looked at her, and he wore a blue T-shirt under a long, brown jacket, jeans that were a darker blue than his shirt, and muddy white Converse trainers.

She let her eyes rest on his shoes; that seemed safest.

"Are you okay?" he asked after a bit, tilting his head to the side in a way that was vaguely doglike. His jacket puddled on the ground as he squatted next to her. "Sick? You fell as you were talking on the phone…"

He pressed his hand to her forehead, and she jerked away, feeling the ghost of someone else as he did so. She felt terrible once she saw the hurt on his face, he'd only been trying to help, after all, and she tried to explain. "Sorry, I'm not sick, I just…"

She trailed off. What could she say? _I thought you were my ex-boyfriend, he left me a message and I thought you were him coming to get me. _No, that wouldn't work out at all.

"Sorry." she said finally. "Sorry, really. I'm a bit jumpy is all."

He stood up again and held out his hand. "I'm John Smith."

She took his hand, planning on shaking it, and he pulled her to her feet, surprising her a little.

"Rose Tyler." she said.

"Hello!" he said brightly, trying to cheer her up, and it worked, she felt a smile grow on her face. His own smile widened in response.

He had a brilliant smile. Cheerful and bright, and it changed his face from normally handsome into wonderful. His smile made you trust him-it was so uncomplicated, it didn't have any layers to it. He was happy. That was it.

They stood and looked at each other for a few moments, his eyes scanning her face and hair, and she waited until he was looking at her again, expectant.

"Why are you here so late?" she asked, to break the silence. She had a reason to be here, of course, she took the city buses and they didn't come until now, about 30 minutes after school ended. Most of the kids were out the door barely after the last bell rang. At least, that's how it was here.

"I was helping out a friend of mine, with a case." When she looked at him, confused, he added, "He's a detective, and sometimes he wants a second opinion from someone else brilliant." She couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "How about you?" he added. "Why are you here?"

"Waitin' for the bus. I take the city bus, see, it comes a bit later than the one for the school." she explained.

"Why?" he asked, doing that doglike thing with his head again. Usually she'd mind if someone asked her these questions, but somehow since it was him, she didn't mind, it seemed fine. Maybe it was his honest curiosity, the way he didn't seem to want to pry, he just wanted to know everything about the world around him.

"I live on the other side of the city." she said, shrugging. "In another district."

"Really?" He seemed intrigued. "Why did you come here, then?"

"I transferred."

"But why?"

She bit her lip and looked away. He seemed to realize he was overstepping, and changed the subject.

"Do you want to come to my house for a bit?"

"What?" she said, a little shocked. "Why?"

"I dunno. You seemed upset before. You know, might cheer you up. My house seems to have that effect. And I want to help. We could watch a movie, or something." He tugged a hand through his hair and looked at her.

"I can't, sorry." she said. Kind or not, nice or not, he was a strange boy, and she wasn't just going to leave and go with him.

He looked disappointed, and turned to walk away. She watched him walk over to the parking lot, and then she lost sight of him.

She snuggled into her coat, and settled in to wait. She couldn't help but be a little miffed that he'd left (without even saying goodbye) and a little sad, too. He'd seemed nice, after all, and she could've used the company. And maybe going to his house to hang out for a bit wouldn't have been so bad. This was how you made friends, right? You went to hang out with them?

And he'd been so nice to talk to, and she'd liked his brown eyes. They were kind and bright, the eyes of a little boy who still saw the wonder in the world but also an adult who wasn't so naive.

There was suddenly a roar from a car's engine and he drove up, in a darkish-blue convertible, a hopeful sort of smile on his face. "By the way." he said casually. "Did I mention I've also got popcorn?"

And the way he looked, somehow she could tell, he wanted her to come with him. Genuinely. Just to cheer her up, to make her day brighter, and maybe to get to know her and be her friend so he could help if she needed it. And she discovered, all of a sudden, that she wanted to go.

_This could be me meeting my best friend in the world. _she thinks. _So I'm gonna take the chance._

She laughed, and shook her head at him, and walked over. "Okay, you've convinced me." she told him as she hopped into the passenger seat.

* * *

His house was huge. She gaped at it, walking up next to him. There were three floors, and it was one of those old Victorian-like houses on the edge of the city, with a wraparound porch and a tower. To Rose, who'd lived in a four-or-so room apartment her whole life, it seemed enormous.

"Wow." she said as they walked up the steps. "You have a really lovely house." It was true, his house looked cheerful and well cared for, and she liked the tower especially.

"Thanks!" he said. "Tower's not mine, though, sadly, wish it was."

"Is it a room, up there? A bedroom?"

"Nope, just a tower." John said, shrugging. "You see, Mum gave it to my sister so she has her own space. Might be able to persuade Mum to let me have it when she goes away to uni, I'd use it as a place to stargaze…" He pushed the front door open and walked in.

She followed him, walking through a room with a mess of shoes and coats lying about and into a kitchen.

"Here we are, then!" John said, throwing his coat over a chair. There was another boy sitting at the table, eating a banana with a faraway look on his face. There were also about three bunches of bananas sitting on the table. Rose blinked.

"Are you going to explain all these bananas…?"

"That's my brother." John explained, pointing to the boy. "And I like bananas. We all do. Good source of potassium and all that."

"You've got brothers?" she asked, a little envious. It had always been just her and mum, (Mickey, after a while,) and she'd always wanted a brother or sister.

"Two, actually." John said cheerfully. "And a sister. All of us boys named John. Or some variation, anyway. Jonathan, Jon, John-"

"You're joking." Rose said, not believing him for a second.

John shrugged. "Our dad thinks he's funny. What's got you so quiet, then?" he added to his brother.

The boy, who had green eyes and brownish hair that was a little bit long, was staring off into space, and replied in a voice that was a little bit dreamy, "River Song kissed me today."

"Oh so that's all? You just had a snog?" another boy said disbelievingly, leaning in. He had very short hair, big ears, and a leather jacket.

"Congratulations!" John beamed, slapping the banana-eating boy on the back, and Rose smiled at him. He smiled back.

"I'm Jon. J-O-N." he said, holding out a hand, and she shook it.

"Whereas I have J-O-H-N, myself. And this poor laddie's stuck with Jonathan." John said cheerfully, rubbing the boy with the big ears on the top of his head.

Rose raised her eyebrows, trying not to smile at the annoyed expression on Jonathan's face. "How do you know who's who? When your mum's calling you or something, do you have nicknames?"

"Yup." John said, popping the 'p'. "It's a bit of a long story-"

"It'll be longer than it's supposed to be if you tell it, you take so bloody_ long_ to tell stories." Jonathan muttered, still irritated. Rose hid her smile behind her hand, and John glared at his brother.

"_Anyhow_, our great-grandad thought he was funny and named both his sons John Smith. And then they each had two sons, and named them John, because they thought it was a good joke. And one of them was Dad. Two of our uncles never married. One of them did, before my dad, and had two sons and two daughters, twins, you know, the sisters were, anyway, the boys weren't but the girls-but in any case, the sons were John, or something like it, Jon, Jonathan, Johnny-_anyway_, then Dad had us and we were all Johns too. Dad was…the fourth John in our family. Jonathan's the ninth, I'm the tenth, and then Jon over there is the eleventh."

"That's what you should call us. We all call our Dad Dad, but our uncles call him Four, and they're Uncle Three and Uncle Five and Uncle Six, and we're Nine, Ten and Eleven." Jon (or Eleven) said, taking the last bite of his banana and selecting another one. "Our cousins are Eight and Seven. And Grandad and our great-uncle are One and Two."

"It's all a bit confusing." Ten said. "All you have to remember is us, though. Nine, Ten, and Eleven. And their dad."

Rose giggled. "God, you make my family sound boring."

"Why, what's yours like?" Eleven asked.

"Just me and Mum." she said, shrugging. "Dad died when I was a baby. Car accident."

"I'm sorry." Eleven said, looking at her sadly. "That must be terrible. Not missing him or anything, since you didn't know him, but not having a dad when everyone else did. That must be terrible."

She blinked at him. "It's all right. But yeah, it does, I mean, I feel bad, sometimes." She changed the subject then. She didn't want to go into all that, not in detail. "You said you had a sister, too. What's her name?"

"She's right here, and her name is Amy Smith, soon to be Pond." a girl's voice sang out, and Ten smiled.

"Here she is now. Amy, this is Rose Tyler."

Amy Smith, soon to be Pond, was gorgeous, one of the people you saw and subconsciously wished you had their face. Her red hair didn't help, either; it made her all the more exquisite. But she had a lovely, friendly smile, and you couldn't hold her looks against her. Rose grinned at her.

"Hello, nice to meet you, Rose." Amy said brightly, holding out a hand. "Are you a new girlfriend, or just here?"

"Here for the bananas." Rose said, grinning a little. "Nice to meet you too."

"Oh, well, we never run out of bananas in this house. God forbid we do, there'd probably be nuclear war." Amy said, rolling her eyes. Rose laughed. She had a feeling she was going to like this girl.

"About the 'soon to be Pond', Amy." Eleven said. "Are you just going to announce your engagement to everyone you meet?"

She grinned at him. "I'm happy about it!"

"You're engaged?" Rose said. "Congratulations. Bit young, though, isn't it?"

"Oh, Ten and Eleven and I wouldn't have allowed it if it wasn't disgustingly meant to be, not to mention Mum would never let any of us marry unless she was absolutely certain that it was perfect." Nine said, waving a hand. "They've been together ages now, we all knew they were going to get married sometime. Sooner better than later, I suppose."

"Anyway, I'm in my last year of school before uni." Amy said. "Nine, lucky boy, he's already there."

"Which means I get to sleep a bit more than you all do." Nine said, grinning. "Just an hour, but it's very worth it."

"What're you studying?" Rose asked.

"I'm getting at least two years of astronomy, and a bit of philosophy. Then I'm going to become a soldier." Nine said.

"Isn't that a bit, um, dangerous?" Rose asked, frowning.

"Yes, but I don't mind." Nine said, yawning. "It's what I want to do. Serve my people."

The nobility of his statement, Rose decided, was made a lot less effective since he was yawning over and over. "Tired, are you?"

"Didn't get much sleep last night." he said, and rubbed his palms into his eyes.

"I told you not to stay up." Amy said, shaking her head.

"I wasn't about to miss it." Nine protested, and Rose raised her eyebrows at Amy in question.

Amy sighed. "The lug stayed up far past midnight to watch a marathon of some sort, I didn't want to get into it, just told him it was a bad idea. One extra hour of sleep doesn't help much when you're up until three in the morning..."

"The door was pushed open then, they could hear it from where they were standing, and a warm voice called out, "Where are you four?"

"In the kitchen, Mum." Ten called. "And I brought a friend home, is that alright?"

"Yes, fine." their mother said, coming into the kitchen. She was a pretty woman with smile lines around her mouth and eyes, and red-brown hair that dusted her shoulders. "Hello, I'm Sarah Jane, what's your name?" she said, smiling at Rose.

"Rose Tyler." Rose said automatically. "Pleased to meet you."

"And you!" Sarah Jane Smith said, smiling at her. "Boys, help me with the groceries. Amy, I have the cold things here, put them away for me, please?"

"Sure thing, Mum." Amy said. "Rory's coming over, can he stay for dinner?"

"Rory comes over every night, we're used to it by now." Ten said, crossing his eyes at her. Amy tweaked his nose.

"That's enough out of you." Sarah Jane scolded. "Go on, get the groceries."

With much shoving and chatter, the three boys walked out the front door. Rose looked after them, smiling as she did so. Amy sighed.

"Just so you know, they're always this odd. A fair warning though…Dad's just the same. You'll like Rory though, he's wonderful. Are you staying for dinner?" Amy asked, busily putting things away.

"I'll have to ask my mum…oh, god." Rose said, a slow dread growing inside her. "I forgot to call her…oh, she's going to be worried." She tugged her mobile out of her pocket and died quickly, putting the phone to her ear and pacing, biting her lip.

Her mum picked up. "Rose, oh god, where are you?" she asked, her voice rising into a shriek on the last word. Rose winced. "You didn't come home, and I sent Mickey out to look for you, I though-oh, I don't know what I-well, I do know, I thought _he_ came back-"

"Mum, I'm so sorry," she interrupted. " I met this bloke John at school and he invited me over to hang out with him and his family, and they're really nice, all of them, Mum, so don't get mad, we were just having so much fun and I forgot to call, I'm so sorry…"

"What are you trying to do, give me a bloody heart attack?" her mum shouted, angrier now, less anxious. "I was so worried, Rose! After all that…I though this was going to be a fresh start. Don't _scare _me like that."

"I'm sorry, Mum, honest." Rose bit her lip, and then asked timidly, "Can I stay for dinner? We're having a good time, and they want me to stay."

"I don't know." her mother fretted. "Do you know anything about them?"

"They're not like he was." Rose said, dropping her voice. "I'll be safe. And their mum's here, and their dad's gonna be home soon."

"Well…" her mum paused, and Rose could hear her worry, somehow, through the phone. "I s'pose. If you'd really like to. Be home by…seven? Seven thirty?"

"Thanks, Mum. And don't worry. Things are fine." she told her, knowing it wouldn't reassure her fully but it would help. "I love you. Bye."

"Love you." her mother said, and Rose snapped the phone shut.

Amy grinned at her. "So you're staying?"

"Who's staying?" Eleven asked, coming in the door carrying three bags of groceries.

"Rose is. For dinner. "Amy said, and Eleven grinned at her.

"Good! Good, yes, that's brilliant." he said, sounding pleased. "I wish River could come, I should have invited her…"

"Has she kissed you yet?" Amy asked with great interest, and Rose sat down at the counter, watching them put more groceries away.

"Yes." Eleven reported happily. "In the History wing."

"She _would_." groaned Nine, walking in as well, carrying about five bags. Ten looked to be struggling under the same number.

Amy looked at him and shook her head. "Stop trying to carry so many. You'll never catch up with Nine."

"Not trying to-"

"Yes, you are." Amy said.

Rose laughed, and grinned at them all. As she opened her mouth to ask a question, the door burst open again. A man with curly brown hair, a wide smile, a rather big nose, and a brown coat, brown hat, and long, multi-colored scarf had walked in, and she couldn't help but goggle at him, because he was unlike anyone she was used to seeing.

"Hello, all of you." he said cheerfully. "Who's she?"

"I'm Rose Tyler. I'm staying for dinner."

"Nice to meet you, Rose Tyler." he said, shaking her hand energetically. "Welcome to the family."

She grinned.

This was something that she could get used to. They were all so nice, so genuine, and so friendly-well, if she had friends in this school, she'd want it to be them.

And for the first time in a while, Rose felt truly safe.

* * *

_A/N: This was originally a half-idea, then a present from my friend Andrea (Merry Christmas!), but I like it so much I made it a real fic. Hope you enjoy it!_

_I don't own. And if you don't mind, review! It's a great feeling to know someone likes what you do. _

_Much love, Ninjee_


	2. Smith and Jones

**Chapter Two**

They drove her home after dinner, which had been excellent. Eleven, strangely, had eaten fish fingers and custard for dessert instead of ice cream like the rest of them. (They'd dug it out of the freezer, despite her protests, because she was company.) And then they'd gone into the living room, considered watching a movie, and decided against it, and instead had talked.

It had been her, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Amy, and Rory, who had turned out extremely nice. And she could see now what Nine had meant about it being 'disgustingly meant to be', you could see it in their eyes. It made her smile.

They talked about nothing for about a half an hour, recounting excited stories, talking about favorite colors or bands or books, all the things you do when you make new friends. And they told her stories about the rest of their friends, Martha Jones (who she knew) who was brilliant and studying to be a doctor, Molly Hooper and John Watson, who were with her, studying to be doctors, Donna Noble, their adopted aunt, (she lived down the street a bit and they'd come to regard her as family, over the years) who was liked to poke fun at them, especially Ten. And Jack Harkness, who, according to Nine, went for anything with two legs and she should definitely stay away from. Amy shook her head at this, and said disapprovingly that he wouldn't go for her if she didn't want him to and Nine should stop worrying so much.

She was still laughing over the recent exchange when she looked at her watch and froze. "Blimey, Mum said seven thirty and it's almost seven! I've got to go! Even driving my house's a good half-hour away."

"Aw, that's terrible luck." Eleven complained. "We haven't even told you about Sherlock yet!"

"Don't be an idiot, Eleven." Ten said. "It takes ages to tell someone about Sherlock. Days, even."

"Well, I'll look forward to it." Rose said wryly. "Now come on, Ten, we've got to go!"

"Oh, yes, I've got to drive you, don't I?"

"Hang on, I want to come." Eleven begged.

"I want to, too." Nine said. "And we can leave Amy and Rory alone for a bit, I'm sure they'll appreciate that."

Amy flopped back into the couch. "Sounds good to me. It was lovely meeting you, Rose, see you tomorrow!"

Rose waved, tugging on her shoes. "You, too, Miss Amy Smith, soon to be Pond."

Amy grinned at Rory.

Ten tugged on his brown coat and dashed out the front door, yelling "Last one to the car's a Slitheen!"

Rose dashed after him. "What's a Slitheen?"

"Oh, an alien. We used to make up all sorts when we were little. These ones in particular were a family, very nasty, ugly things, and from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius." Ten said matter-of-factly, just as Nine and Eleven raced out the door, Nine beating Eleven to the car by an inch.

"Cheat!"

"Did not."

"Did so!"

* * *

Ten walked her to her door, and her mother opened it half frantic.

"Hello!" Ten said merrily. "See, we got Rose home safe and sound!"

"Rose, that you?" Mickey said, and she leaned in and waved to him where he was sitting on the couch.

"Hi, Mickey."

"Ooh, so that's Mickey?" Ten said. "He looks just like you said he did. Hello!"

"Mum, Mickey, this is Ten."

"And I have to go. Just wanted to get you here safely." he said, smiling at her. "Goodbye, Rose Tyler!" he said, hugging her around the shoulders and then turning on his heel.

"Say bye to Nine and Eleven." she called after him, and turned back to her mum.

Jackie Tyler's face was twitching like she wasn't sure whether to smile or frown. Rose smiled cautiously, and her mum just looked at her as she walked into the house.

"Look, Mum, I'm sorry I didn't call."

"I was so scared, Rose." her mum said. "So scared. I thought he found you, and took you someplace, and a million other things. I sent Mickey out to look for you and I nearly called the police…"

Rose bit her lip.

Mickey scowled at her. "We were _both_ worried, Rose. You just dashed off with some bloke-!"

"He's not like that, Mickey." Rose said, her voice raising. "He and his family, they were all brilliant. His sister's getting married soon, and his brothers are funny even though one of them's a bit rude, and his mum and dad were so nice to me." She swallowed, hard. "You're talking about him like he's-like he's another Jimmy."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

"We're worried that he might be." her mum said quietly. "Rose, just listen. This is what it was like with Jimmy. You thought he was decent."

"Mum, no. This isn't like that, I promise. I don't want a boyfriend, not right now, anyway. And not all guys are like Jimmy. He was horrible…but these guys aren't. They're all brilliant. And so's Amy, and Rory, and Sarah Jane and Four, they're all brilliant." Rose said, trying to make her voice reassuring. "I promise you a million times, this is nothing like Jimmy. I'm scared too; but these people-they could be some of the best friends I've ever had." she said, repeating her thought from earlier. "And I need to give them the chance! You know what I mean, right?"

Her mum looked at her. "Oh, Rose." she said, and hugged her tight. "You still believe, don't you? That things can turn out right."

"I can't be hopeless, Mum." Rose said gently, squeezing her mother hard. "And today's made me happier than I've been in ages."

"I worry about you so much, love." her mother said quietly. "A mother has to. But you're brave. And you got out of the last mess with no harm done."

Rose pressed her face into her mother's shoulder and said nothing.

"I suppose I can handle this. Just don't stay anywhere too late, and don't-don't be alone with one of the boys, I suppose…" Jackie said.

"I can be alone with Eleven, he's got a girlfriend, and he adores her, he wouldn't try anything with me." Rose said thoughtfully. "But I'm not about to rush into anything, Mum."

"I know, I know. But to make sure…ease my mind…?"

"Course." Rose assured her mother, smiling and squeezing her arm. I'm gonna go t'bed. Okay?"

"I'll go home, then." Mickey said. "Now that we know you're okay."

"I'm sorry for worrying the both of you." Rose said, with real regret. "I'll call next time, I promise."

Mickey nodded and was out the door quick. Rose hugged her mum once more and then went into her room and changed into her pajamas, sliding into bed.

_You got out of the last mess with no harm done._

Well, not really, she hadn't. She still heard his voice and flinched at other people touches, besides Mum. And he still called her, often. He'd never left a message before today, but he'd called. She'd become accustomed to seeing _Missed Call from Jimmy_ on her screen when she turned on her mobile.

And she was still very, very scared. Especially at night, when all the shadows taunted her.

There was quite a bit of harm done, Rose decided. But her mum was worried enough without this added on. She didn't-and wouldn't-have to tell her.

So she lived with the nightmares. And the flinching, which she knew the whole Smith family had noticed. Whenever they brushed up against her, she flinched automatically. They seemed to avoid touching her after they realized, no one, of course, wanted to make her uncomfortable.

They were so nice. Ten especially, finding her like that, taking her home to cheer her up when he didn't know her and had no reason to want to. But the rest of them, too...they were all wonderful.

She snuggled deep into her blankets and closed her eyes. She knew she'd dream of _him_ tonight-she always did-but when she woke up, she hoped she'd be able to reassure herself that it was all okay.

She drifted off to the sound of music from the living room. _So Mum can't sleep either. _she thought sleepily. _She always listens to classical when she can't sleep.._

* * *

_"Hey, baby."_

_"Don't call me your baby."_

_"That's no way to talk." he drawled, leaning against the wall, his blonde hair and blue eyes and tannish skin vivid in her mind's eye. This was how she pictured him. The way he was when she'd first met him, because there was some sad hope that things would go back to the way they were then._

_He smirked at her. "I'm gonna find you eventually, ya know. Movin' schools only stops me from seein' ya in school. I still got the whole rest of the day to look for ya."_

_"I've got a restraining order." she told him, and her voice was weak, not steely like she'd wanted."You can't come near me."_

_He snorted. "Please, baby, as if anyone cares about a little shit like you. You're mine. No cop's gonna tell me different."_

_"You can't come near me." she repeated. _

_"You wanna bet, baby?" And suddenly he was right next to her, his hand on her wrist, squeezing so hard that she thought he'd break it._

_Just a dream, she repeated to herself in a panic, just a dream justadream._

_He couldn't hurt her here. _

_His hand twisted on her skin and she bit her lip. Well, he could hurt her. But it wouldn't last. She'd wake up soon and it would be fine itwillallbefine._

_"Who's gonna save you now, you little bitch?"_

_His breath was hot in her ear and she couldn't move. It was always the same in these dreams, he hurt her and she couldn't move, couldn't run, couldn't do anything-_

_"You're mine."_

_Wake up. she begged herself. Wakeupwakeupwakeup-_

She did.

She sat on her bed tangled into her blankets and struggled to breathe, struggled to think and not scream out like an animal.

She always had one of two dreams. The first was this one, where he came to her in dreamland and made sick promises and hurt her, and she couldn't run. The second wasn't so much a dream as a sequence of memories. _Him_, over and over, good, bad, terrible, terrifying.

She'd thought that she could help him, make him better, heal him with her love for him. And when she realized she couldn't, she was in too deep and too afraid.

Jimmy Stone.

Sometimes she still got flashes, like someone who's been in a war, of his fists coming at her, of the bruises on her back and stomach and thighs where no one else but him would see. How he'd liked them. Like they were trophies.

How she'd been too scared to tell a soul. How he'd broken her, and whenever she'd tried to leave, had begged her to come back. The last time, he hadn't even begged. He'd just hit her. And he didn't stop until she screamed that she loved him, even though by then it wasn't true anymore. Until she promised she'd stay.

She stuffed her head under a pillow and tried to forget.

She fell asleep again, and this time there were no dreams, just oblivion.

* * *

The next morning she was in a hurry, running outside to catch a bus earlier than her usual one, to get to school faster, something she hadn't done in a long time. But she wanted to see them. She had a reason to get here early now.

She saw Ten's blue car waiting in the lot of her building. She felt a grin spread over her face, and she ran towards them.

Nine spotted her first, and waved from the backseat. "Hello!"

"Hello!" she called back, unable to keep her smile under control. She'd forgotten, sort of, what it was like, not to feel _it,_ that sort of lingering unease around people, all people, because of _him._ But these, boys, and their sister, they just washed that all away.

She liked it. Not being so on edge, that is-it was nice.

"Did you all come to get me?" she said, still grinning at them like an idiot.

"It was my idea." Nine said proudly. "Couldn't have you riding the bus, they're awful."

"Not always." Rose said. "But in winter…" She shuddered. "I hate 'em in the winter. Thanks." She beamed at Nine.

He looked away, shrugging, but she could tell he was pleased. "Not a big deal."

"You live _here?" _Eleven said with open curiosity, looking around. Nine elbowed him.

"Oi, don't start. It's not as fancy as your house, maybe, but it works for Mum and me." Rose said, putting her hands on her hips and giving him a mock glare.

"Rose!" her mum called then, from the deck in front of their apartment. "Who are those kids?"

"They're the ones I was with last night, Mum." Rose yelled back.

"Hello, Rose's mum." Eleven called cheerfully.

Jackie looked hard at him for a few seconds, her eyes narrowed. "Come _straight _home after school today." she told her daughter, a little stiffly, and went back into the apartment.

"She takes a bit to get used to people." Rose lied. Well, what could she say? _My mum thinks you lot are going to abuse me like my ex did so she doesn't like you too much because she doesn't trust anyone around me anymore? _That wouldn't do. "Sorry."

Eleven didn't seem to mind, just shrugged and patted the passenger seat in front of him. "Go on, get in."

"Yeah, or we're gonna be late." Rose heard, and realized with a start that Amy was in the backseat. She hadn't noticed her before. Granted, she did look as though she'd been asleep for the past ten minutes, so at least there was a reason she hadn't realized she was there.

Amy laid her head back on Eleven's shoulder as Rose was thinking this, giving a loud, dramatic snore.

Rose giggled and slid into the front seat next to Ten.

"Allons-y!" Ten shouted, and started to drive.

* * *

When they reached the school, Rory and some other bloke were waiting for them near a bench. Rory was sitting on the bench, cross-legged, and he shook his head and chuckled as he say Amy, half-asleep. "Time to get up, love." he said, reaching into the car and shaking her shoulder gently.

Amy yawned and opened her eyes about halfway. "D'you have coffee or somethin'?" she asked, stretching a bit.

He rolled his eyes and handed a travel cup to her in silence. Rose smiled a little, and turned her attention to the boy who was leaning against a streetlight next to Rory's bench.

He was tall and handsome with dark hair and blue eyes, incredibly handsome, really, with features straight out of those old black and white movies Mum watched. And a lovely smile, all straight and white. He shot her a grin as she got out of the car.

"Jack Harkness." he said. "And you?"

"Rose Tyler." she said. Perhaps a bit breathlessly. But he was charming, this one.

"Nice to meet ya, Rose." Jack said with a wink.

"Oh, would you stop bloody flirting, Harkness." Nine said with a groan. He'd gotten into the driver's seat of the car.

Jack grinned at him. "Come on, I was only saying hello."

"If saying hello was all you were plannin' to do, I'm the Jagrafess." Nine grumbled, putting the car in gear. "I'll bring it back after school." he added to Ten, who was looking at his car sadly. "All right, don't get in trouble, you lot."

"When do we ever-oh. Yes, I see your point." Eleven said thoughtfully.

"Goodbye, brother dear." Amy said in singsong. "Have fun."

Nine rolled his eyes and drove off.

Ten clapped his hands together and grinned. "Right, let's go, lots of people for Rose to meet." he said excitedly. He held out his hand to her, wiggling his fingers a bit. "Come on!"

Rose shook her head and laughed, taking his hand and letting him lead her into the school.

* * *

She met what felt like twenty people that morning. All of them knew Nine, Ten, or Eleven somehow. It was odd, like they were celebrities.

The moment they'd gotten inside Eleven had run with Amy and Rory over to a beautiful girl, full lips and curly hair, bouncy and wild curls that Rose normally would have been sort of mildly jealous about. The girl leaned over and kissed Eleven, and beamed at Amy after pulling away.

"About time, you two." Rose hears Amy say, and she shoots a look back at them, the girl laughing, her eyes glowing, Eleven taking her hand and shifting closer to her. He looked so happy that Rose couldn't help but smile, though the way Eleven was staring at the girl reminded her of a puppy. Or a kitten, with a ball of string. It was cute, though. But Ten was dragging her off in another direction, so she managed a wave in Amy and Eleven's direction before they turned the corner.

"Oi, hang on, Rose!" Eleven yelled, and she and Ten laughed.

They stopped, and Eleven ran around the corner, pulling the girl with him. "Rose," he complained, "you haven't even met River yet."

"Well, then let's do it, lots of people to see, Eleven." Ten said, bouncing from one foot to the other.

"He hates to waste mornings." Amy explained. "Before the bell rings in the morning is his favorite time of day."

"Right, then let's do this, introductions." Eleven said. "Rose, this is River Song, River, this is Rose Tyler. Ten met her yesterday in the parking lot."

"I see." the girl said, amusement lacing her voice. "Lovely to meet you, Rose. Do you often meet boys in the parking lot?"

Rose grinned. "I only tag along for dinner if they've got blue cars."

"What, then I'm not special?" Ten mock-shouted, pretending to be hurt. "I'm insulted, Rose."

"Yes, I thought we had something." Amy lamented, and Rose giggled.

"But it is nice to meet you, River, Eleven wouldn't shut up about you." she called, Ten grabbing her hand and proceeding to drag her off to meet more people.

"You're not supposed to _say _that!" Eleven shouted after her, but River just laughed.

But she and Ten were running, then, and whatever the others were saying was drowned out.

They stopped at a locker down the hall, Ten pacing back and forth. "Come on, where are they?"

"Ten!"

"Martha!" he said delightedly, turning to face the owner of the voice. Martha was lovely, with good cheekbones and a white smile against dark skin. She was grinning at Ten, and gave Rose a smile too, before her eyes widened.

"Hang on, I know you-I showed you around your first day, right?"

"Yeah, 'm Rose."

"What, you know each other already?" Ten said, looking disappointed.

"Yes." Martha said. "I was her tour guide on her first day, back in November."

"Oh, and you've known her all this time? I only just met her yesterday in the parking lot, and I could have known her earlier than this? I've missed out on a month of Rose Tyler? Shame on you for not introducing her, Martha!"

Martha's smile fades. "Oh, well, sorry." she said.

"Not her fault, I didn't talk to her, really." Rose said. "I was shy about things-only reason I was alright with you was 'cause I went to your house. But she didn't really-I mean, no reason to introduce someone who doesn't seem interesting to your friends."

Ten frowns. "I s'pose-but you _are_ interesting, Rose."

"Yeah, well, she didn't know that." Rose said, grinning a little. "C'mon, don't be mad at her, wasn't her fault, yeah?"

"I'm not mad, not really-ooh, I was being rude again, wasn't I." he said, frowning. Rose had to bite her lip to keep from smiling at how upset he looked, like a scolded puppy. "Martha, I'm sorry about that."

"Not a problem." Martha said, smiling brightly again, and Rose thought maybe she looked a bit amused, too. "So, Ten, are we gonna have another movie night at your house soon?"

"Oooh, yes, definitely." Ten said enthusiastically, nodding at her. "Last one was quite fun. 'S long as we keep the custard away from Eleven-"

"Yes, that was sort of gross." Martha said, shifting so that she was standing in front of Ten and Rose was more off to the side. Ten straightened up and grinned again.

"Ooh! Look! It's Molly and John!"

He dashed out in pursuit and left Rose and Martha behind, together. Martha didn't say anything, and Rose was slightly upset by the other girl's cool behavior. She'd been nice enough when she'd been showing her around.

Before things could get too awkward, Jack walked over, grinning at Martha. "Martha Jones, lovely as ever."

"Come off it, Jack." Martha said shortly. "I'm gonna go to first period, see you at lunch."

She walked off, and Jack waited until she was far enough away and whistled softly. "She's giving you quite the cold shoulder."

Martha had been polite but cold, and watching the way she'd looked after Ten when he walked away, Rose had an answer as to why. Martha loved him, or at least liked him quite a bit. And she thought-_oh, she thought that Rose liked Ten, too._

Rose wanted to laugh at that. Martha did _not_ have to worry.

She didn't want anyone, at least right now. Maybe a Rose Tyler that didn't flinch horribly at the touch of anyone other than her mother might want Ten. (He did, after all, have absolutely gorgeous chestnut hair, all wild and messy the way it was, and lovely brown eyes, like chocolate, and a brilliant smile-well, he was definitely handsome, that was all she was saying.) But Rose still flinched, even at him, when he grabbed her hand, and interested as she would usually be, she couldn't handle something like that right now.

"Well, s'pose she thinks I'm intruding on her territory." Rose said dryly to Jack, who shook his head,

"Don't let her fool you-she's got no claim on him. Anything that's happened is all in her head, and I'm sorry, but that's how it looks like it's gonna stay. She's just jealous."

"Jealous. Of me." Rose said skeptically.

"You're gorgeous and hanging out with Ten. You look like you've known him for years, and you calmed him down in a second when he got upset _and_ got him to apologize after being rude. Of course she's jealous-why wouldn't she be?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow. "And don't give me any shit like you're not attracted to him, either. Everyone is." He paused. "Well, not everyone, but he's got this thing, I guess-people just like him. There was this French exchange student, Reinette, and she made out with him in an empty classroom."

Rose laughed outright at that. "You're from America, aren't you?" she asked. Now that he'd talked for a while, she heard his accent.

"Moved here two years ago to live with a relative. Parents died in an accident." he said matter-of-factly.

"My dad died in an accident, too." Rose admitted. "When I was a baby."

"I can't say I was too fond of my old man, but I miss him like hell." Jack said quietly.

"I never knew my dad, but sometimes I miss him too."

Jack put his arm around her shoulders in a quick hug. It should have been caring and nice, warm and comforting, all that. Rose flinched away.

"You okay?" Jack asked with concern.

"Yeah." she muttered, looking down.

_Shhh, Rosie. Just me._

"I'm fine." she said, too loud, and someone walking past heard and looked at her confusedly.

"Rose, I'm sorry if I upset you." Jack said, and tried to lift up her chin so she'd look at him.

She flinched again the moment he touched her, and he dropped his hand. She faked a smile.

"I'm alright. Really."

_Shh, babe, it's only me._

Jack looked at her in confusion and then shook his head. "If you're sure."

She smiled to try and reassure him, and then Ten was running back over them and grabbing her elbow, babbling about some kids named Molly and John and not noticing when she flinched at his touch, too. Visibly.

"Come on, Rose, people to meet!" he said, and tugged her along with him. She waved a goodbye to Jack, who was still looking after her with confusion.

Ten turned to meet her eyes as her tugged her along, and that made her feel a little better, calming the whispers in her head. They came to a short stop in front of a girl with brownish hair and a boy wearing an ugly jumper.

"Hello, you two! Rose, this is John Watson and Molly Hooper, John, Molly, this is Rose Tyler. I met her in the parking lot yesterday."

John held out his hand and she shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." she said.

The bell rang then, and Ten actually flinched. "Well," he said, with great disappointment, "I suppose we'll have to go to class now. I'll see you at lunch, Rose, come and find us, table in the back left."

Then he was dashing off, and Molly sighed. "He's always like that, but I suppose you know that now."

"Yeah, I do." Rose said, and then resigned herself to first-period History class.

* * *

_A/N: T__his chapter might still have a few things to edit, but I really wanted to get it out for you guys. Thank you all so much for your reviews and faves :D_

_In this chapter we meet (sort of, anyway) Rose's ex, Jimmy Stone. We also learn why she left him and why she flinches when people touch her unexpectedly. And we meet Jack, Martha, Molly, and John.  
_

_This chapter is 4.5K, which is the longest chapter I've ever written. Also, I'm gonna try to make chapters for this story at least 4K each, so it might take a while for me to get them to you. I'll try to make it worth the wait.  
_

_I don't own Doctor Who or Sherlock.  
_

_I love reviews, though, please write me some! They're like fuel.  
_

_Much love, Ninjee  
_


	3. New Earth

**Chapter 3**

She made tabs on them that morning in her head, listing the things she's learned about these kids.

John Watson was shorter than average but not incredibly short, and had sandy blonde, short hair and blue eyes, and a cheerful smile that sort of spread over his face and made everyone around him smile, too. He always wore jumpers, ugly ones, and he had a boyfriend, something that had half surprised her. He was also studying to be a doctor or a soldier, preferably both.

Molly Hooper was studying to be a doctor as well. She wanted to involve justice somehow, and was studying careers that would allow her to work in both the medical and justice fields. She was pretty, with brown, straight hair, a thin frame, and a lovely smile when she used it. She had a tendency to look sort of afraid when Rose walked up, but Rose soon learned that was due to her shyness. She'd also had a bit of a thing for John's boyfriend for as long as she'd known him, which was a while.

This made Rose smile a little, glad to be back in the middle of all the drama of a group of friends in high school.

Jack Harkness was the school's biggest flirt. There seemed to be few people he had not slept with, or kissed, or been out with. He was also famous for conning a few new students the year before into thinking they had free passes to the new teacher's lounge on the third floor. (Incidentally, he'd also found the key to the _old_ teacher's lounge on the _second_ floor, and their group of friends, now Rose's group, too, could often be found there.)

She'd met quite a few other people, too, but Molly, John and Jack stuck in her head. And then there was Martha.

She was dead clever, studying to be a doctor and doing quite well. She was also gorgeous, funny, and had had a schoolgirl crush on Ten for at least as long as they'd known each other, which had been about a year and a half. And she would really be lovely for him, but he'd never shown the slightest interest in her besides having her as a friend. She was sort of possessive of him anyway. But besides all that, she was clever, brilliant, really, and according to Molly she really was lovely, it just might take her a while to warm up to Rose.

Rose decided to wait. It wasn't that big a deal, anyway, and she supposed that if Martha was as clever as people said than she wouldn't be very petty about this.

She worked her way through the morning, talking to Molly and John in Biology and Jack in History (where he made up ridiculous names for generals and battles and generally made the class more interesting) and a few other classes (a free period where she went to the library and found Eleven and River pouring over a history book together, and an incredibly boring typing class that she'd only taken because she'd transferred late and everything else was full) and then made her way to lunch, table at the back left, just like Ten had said.

Only Eleven was there, chewing complacently on a sandwich. "Hello!" he said, smiling at her. "Amy's up getting food, and Ten, I think he's over at Sherlock and John's table, Sherlock doesn't sit with us, you know, and River and Rory've got lunch another time, and Martha has lunch now, Jack doesn't though, neither does Molly, and did you know they never have fish fingers here? Ever. I mean, what kind of an establishment is it without fish fingers-?"

Rose laughed, sitting down next to him with her tray. "I dunno. They need to rethink their priorities here."

"No more focusing on learning. Just fish fingers." Eleven said enthusiastically, and Rose snickered.

She looked down and frowned at the chips on her plate. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I even get these." she said, holding one up and watching as it broke and fell, undercooked and disgusting. "They're rubbish."

"What, the chips?" Eleven said. "Yes, they are rubbish."

Ten bounced up then, not holding a tray. "Oooh, hello, Rose."

"Hi, Ten." she said, looking at her lunch with distaste.

"You don't look pleased." he noted, and she sighed.

"School food is terrible. Which wouldn't be a problem usually, but I didn't get any breakfast."

"Well, then you've come to the right people, Rose Tyler." Ten announced to her, grinning like a madman. "_We_…are going to go on an adventure."

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, you want some good chips, don't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Come on then, just follow my lead, all right?" he told her, and she nodded, bewildered. "Eleven, tell everyone where we went if they ask, and do be a good little brother and bring me a biscuit in Astronomy."

"You can buy one yourself." Eleven said mildly. "You're the one going on the adventure."

"Oh, all right." Ten muttered in a very put-upon way, and then he grabbed Rose's hand and dragged her out of the lunchroom. "Run!"

She giggled, and ran, and people looked at them, raising their eyebrows and rolling their eyes, and quick as a wink, Ten stuck his tongue out in their direction. Rose stuffed a fist in her mouth to keep from laughing.

Ten waggled his eyebrows at her, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

He just grinned, and they didn't stop running until they reached the corner that was just before the secretary's office. They were breathing hard, and Rose let go of his hand to wrap her arms around herself, breathless with both the running and laughter.

Ten leaned over, giggling helplessly. "Okay, we've got to calm down." he said through his laughter. "We've got to be convincing."

"Convincing? What do you mean, convincing? Who've we got to convince?" Rose said, confused.

"Just smile and don't say much." Ten instructed, and walked into the secretary's office confidently, smiling at the woman behind the desk. "Hello, my friend Rose and I have to leave to go pick up her mother, we've got permission."

"Why are _you_ going to pick up _her _mother?" the secretary asked, looking up at them.

"I'm the one with the car, and Rose doesn't drive." Ten said smoothly.

"Yeah, I've got a phobia." Rose said, making herself sound slightly ashamed.

Ten held out a piece of paper to the woman at the desk and she studied it. After a moment, she smiled, and nodded to him. "Go on, then. But be back before the next period, all right?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ten said, and then walked out the front door of the school, Rose by his side. He was in his long brown coat still, and she was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. It was a nippy sort of cold that you don't notice until you're walking in it.

And the sun was on their backs and they were not in school and Rose had to laugh, at that. "How'd you get us out, then? Bribery?"

"Rose Tyler, you insult me." he said dramatically. "I used much simpler methods. Psychic paper, that's all."

"Oh, really." she said skeptically. "Psychic paper."

"We-ell, it's more like a cleverly forged pass and a confident excuse." he admitted, and she laughed again, teasingly.

"Knew it-trickery, then."

"It's not _trickery._" he protested, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Is, too."

"Not."

"Is."

"Not."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Riiight." she said, drawing the word out teasingly. "Well, that aside, what are we gonna do now? My mum definitely does not need to be picked up."

"Well, you wanted chips. So we are off, on an adventure, to get chips." he explained.

Rose stopped walking and just _stared_ at him. "You're serious."

"Yes." he said, a hint of defensiveness in his tone.

She shook her head and chuckled, and then kept walking, her hands stuffed in her pockets. "You know, I thought so before, but this just proves it, you _are_ mad."

"Oi!" he protested.

"Yes, completely mad, you are." she said cheerfully. He frowned.

"Well, if you didn't want to go…"

"I didn't say I _minded._" she said mischievously, and dashed ahead, calling back to him. "Come on, I know the best little chip shop and it's close!"

At the chip shop, they bought one order or chips and separate drinks, and she took the opportunity, (while he was up at the counter arguing about the state of the banana in his milkshake) to pour ketchup all over the chips in a drizzle.

When he returned, now satisfied with his milkshake, he stared, and said in an indignant voice, "You've ruined them!"

"Did not!"

"Did too! Look at them! You've drowned them!"

"They're good like this." Rose said, crossing her arms.

"They're going to get all mushy." he complained, and she shook her head at him.

"Then eat them before that happens." she said, taking a sip of her soda.

"_Rose._" he said in a long-suffering way.

"_Ten_." she said back, picking up a chip and taking a deliberate bite.

He sighed and gave up, stuffing one in his mouth. His eyes widened considerably and he grabbed two more.

Rose giggled. "Told ya they were good."

He gave her a _look,_ but his cheeks were stuffed with chips and the way they puffed out made him look like a chipmunk, and, well, who _wouldn't_ start to giggle at that?

She did try not to, really, she did.

He swallowed his mouthful. "It's not funny." he said, but he was grinning a little.

"It was, actually." Rose said. "You looked like a chipmunk."

He ran a hand over his hair. "I resent that." he said, but now he was grinning in full.

"You made a very handsome chipmunk." Rose reassured him.

"I did, did I?" he said, teasing, his smile going a little bit smug.

"Oh, yes, for a chipmunk anyway." Rose said cheerfully, rolling her eyes at him, and he pulled a chip from the bottom of the basket where they didn't have ketchup and threw it at her.

It bounced off her cheek and she picked it up and ate it.

They talked and laughed their way through the basket, and then he checked his watch.

"Rassilon, it's almost time for the next period. Now, I'd love to stay, but I don't want to miss astronomy. We've got to get back."

"Rassilon?" Rose repeated, and he smiled embarrassedly.

"That's another one of the things Nine and Eleven and I made up when we were little. A person, not a planet. And I like how it sounds, better than swearing or saying 'Christ' or 'blimey' anyway." he said, running a hand through his hair, and Rose smiled.

"I like it, too." Rose said, standing up. "Right, we better go, you should pay."

"I've got no money!" he protested.

"What sort of a date are you?" she teased, putting her hands on her hips. "Alright then, you tightwad. Chips are on me. But next time you're payin'!"

Ten laughed, and she pulled a twenty out of her pocket and gave it to the woman behind the counter. After she'd gotten her change, she turned to see Ten standing at the door, wearing that long brown coat of his again, holding out his hand and wiggling his fingers in invitation.

She took it without even considering it, without the usual worries and options and ways out and escaped that usually went through her mind.

He tugged her along in a run down the street, shouting "Allons-y, Rose Tyler!" as they went, and she tilted her head back and laughed.

* * *

They got back barely in time and had to dash off, Ten to astronomy, Rose to maths. She waved goodbye in the hall as they turned the corner, and he winked at her and vanished. She raced to class feeling giddy and strange and not at all like the Rose Tyler who'd been going to school here for days.

Amy squinted at her when Rose collapsed into a seat next to her. This was their only class together, and Rose had noticed her before, actually, mostly because she'd had the same boyfriend every time she'd walked up to the door, and sometimes she would get kissed goodbye and sometimes hugged and sometimes a kiss to her hand, but it was always gentle, and Rose had watched and thought that it was good, you know, to know that some people were okay. That not every boy was like Jimmy. That not every girl was like her.

"You look different." Amy said finally, and Rose wondered if her adventure showed on her face.

"I feel different." she said instead of telling, shrugging. "Happier, you know?"

Amy smiled.

Rose only felt the tiniest bit guilty for not saying a thing about the Adventure. Capital A, after all. This sort of thing was important. But she didn't want to say anything-the Adventure was all hers, hers and Ten's, and she wanted it to stay like that.

Maybe it was selfish. But she hadn't had something that was so perfectly _hers_ in a long time.

"I am glad, you know. You seemed so quiet yesterday-at first I thought, well, maybe that's just how she is-but I could sort of tell, you know? That it was 'cause you were upset. So I'm glad you're happy now." Amy said, then frowned. "Wait, unless it's because Jack's been flirting and you're taking him seriously. Because that won't end well."

"Oh, no." Rose said. "I get blokes like Jack. All talk."

"He's genuine." Amy said thoughtfully. "It's more that he can't commit. He thinks everyone is beautiful, I s'pose? And when he see's someone beautiful he flirts. It's like his natural reaction. So he's a really good friend, and I mean that, but he's not much in the way of boyfriend material."

Rose giggled, and opened her mouth to say something in response, but-

"Something you would like the share with the rest of us, ladies?" Mr. Theobald (an unfortunately bald man with an unfortunately accurate last name) said, drawing out the last word so it was more like "laaaadiiiieeesssssss?" than anything else.

"No, sir." Amy said, covering her mouth with one hand and trying not to giggle. Rose pulled out a piece of paper under the premise of taking notes, and wrote,  
_  
Gah. Honestly. It's not like we were being loud.  
__  
_Amy giggled into a fist to stifle it, and carefully stretched across their shared desk (seating two) to get the paper.  
_  
**Ha. Exactly. He's a bit of an arse.****  
Also, passing notes in class? That's breaking the rules, Rosie.**  
_  
Rose grinned.

_Just call me a rebel.  
**  
I knew I liked you for a reason.**_

* * *

She rode the bus home, not even minding the cold or the smell or the fact that there were at least three hobos on the bus, because her new friends had waved goodbye, even Martha smiling at her a little. And she didn't mind the bus's various problems because she was giddy again, her heart singing.

When she got home, she went straight to her room and looked in the mirror.

_You look different,_ Amy had said.

She stared into her mirror, pulling at her hair, examining herself, her smile that she'd always thought was too big for her face, just by a little, her eyes, which she liked, which were brown.

_Did_ she look different?

Yes, she did.

She looked hopeful.

She sat looking at herself until Mum burst through the door, saying something about the shirts at Henrik's being half off and so she'd gotten them each a couple and she hoped Rose would like them, and then Rose's door was opening and Mum was there, smiling at her.

"Here you are, sweetheart-how was school?"

"Great!" Rose said. "I'm finally fitting, Mum. You know, like the counselor said on my first day."

"'Soon it'll click and you'll fit in?'" her mum quoted, and Rose giggled.

"Yeah. Who knew she'd be right?"

"Not me, for sure." Mum snorted, sitting down. Mum didn't exactly trust counselors. "So who were those boys that picked you up?"

"Same ones I was with last night." Rose said, shrugging. "Nine and Ten and Eleven and their sister, Amy."

"Nine and Ten and...what sort o' names are those?" Mum said incredulously

Rose explained the "John Smith" situation. Mum only looked more confused.

"Just think of 'em like nicknames, Mum." Rose told her. "It's just what we call 'em to keep 'em straight."

Mum nodded, still looking like she thought the whole thing was odd. But Mum was never really one to shut up about things.

"You seem to like them quite a bit."

"They're good people." Rose said quietly.

"Yes, it's just...I do worry about you, sweetheart. Maybe too much. God knows I didn't worry _enough_ before. Maybe this is best, that I worry too much. And I don't like the look of that one in the jacket."

"He's nothing like Jimmy, Mum. Anyways, I'm not interested." There was no way to explain that Nine was just Nine, tall and muscular and brooding-looking with a leather jacket, who loved bananas just like the rest of them and tried to do card tricks, always failing, always looking the same when he did fail-surprised, like he'd truly expected to be able to do it right. Who loved his family and could carry five grocery bags and was one of the most alive people she'd ever known. He didn't seem to be afraid of anything.

"You will talk to me, if something happens."

_No, I can't worry you. _Rose thought without meaning to, and it was sort of, maybe, true, wasn't it? The whole Jimmy thing was her fault, her responsibility, and it was her job to fix it, get over her nightmares. Mum didn't need to know, she would just worry herself sick into the night over it all, and Rose couldn't bear that, not after the black circles that were just starting to disappear from under Mum's eyes.

"Yeah, I will."

"Good." Her mum sounded pleased. "Now, tell me about them. Did you meet anyone else today?"

"They're...them. They're nice, and funny, and I like being with them." _And Ten took me on an adventure and we didn't get in trouble and I would love, love, love to do it again because with him I feel better, lighter, and having friends like this makes me smiley and giddy and I love it, all of it. _"I don't really know much about them yet." _Eleven eats fish fingers with custard and they used to make up stories about aliens to play out in their backyards when they were kids, Ten wants to be an astronomer and Nine wants to be a soldier and Eleven wants to do something with history with River, and the two of them are going to get married and travel the world, I think, and Ten looks like a chipmunk when he eats too many chips, Amy is getting married and her favorite color is orange and they all love the stars. _"They have some other friends-Martha, and Molly, and Jack, and another John-John Watson, though, not Smith."

"Mmmm." Mum hummed, smiling. "Well, glad you've got some friends now, sweetheart."

"Yeah, Mum. Me too." Rose murmured, flopping down on her bed belly up, and her mum stood and smiled.

"All right, Rose, I'm gonna get us some dinner." He mum winked at her and added, "Think I'm in the mood for pizza."

Rose smiled, lying there on her bed, and nodded without looking up.

She felt a hand brush over her hair before her mum left the room and she smiled wider. It was nice, she decided, and things hadn't been this nice for a while.

She did take a second to wonder how long things would _stay _this nice, but then she brushed the thought away. Things would be fine.

Today had made her sure of it.

* * *

_A/N: Hey, guys! I'm really, really sorry it's been so long. But fear not, because I've updated! It took me a while, and I can't guarantee any speed for the next one (I've been crazy busy) but I hope you like this chapter, and I hope you click that review button and leave me something. It's always appreciated. _

_I don't own anything except plot. _

_This chapter was mostly fluff. There will be a lot of that in this story. Fluff feeds the soul. _

_(However, there will also be angst, so be prepared.)_

_Also, I called this chapter New Earth because Rose and the Doctor were absolutely hopelessly lovesick in that one. So. _

_Much love, Ninjee_


	4. Love and Monsters

**Chapter Four**

The next morning, she woke up and they were there again, to take her to school. She felt loads better after talking with her mother, and now that her mother knew and approved, she was waving from the porch instead of coldly saying to be home soon.

"There's a change." Nine observed. "Thought she didn't like us."

"I told you, it takes her a while to warm up to people." Rose said.

Nine raised an eyebrow at her, a rather impressive expression, and she blushed.

"Alright, and I might've had a little talk with her. Convinced her you lot weren't out to get me."

He laughed, and then they were off.

* * *

After school, they were driving her home, and it started to pour. The skies had been the normal London cloudy all day, but now they'd burst, and rain was coming down like a tap had been turned on.

Ten had to crank the top up in his car, but even so water got in.

And it got all over them, too. Eleven was soaked, his hair flopping lifelessly with even less spunk than it usually did, and Ten and Nine weren't too much better. She gave them one look when they pulled up at her apartment, and took pity on them.

"Come on in, then. D'you want some drinks or somethin'?" she asked, leading them up to the apartment, shaking her own wet hair out of her eyes like a horse.

(Looking back on it, she should have known that Mum wouldn't have been pleased with her inviting three boys into their tiny flat, especially given that none of the boys were Mickey and that they were alone with her, never mind that one of them had a girlfriend. But she hadn't thought of that then, she'd just known that it was cold outside and she was going to be hospitable and let them come in for a little while, to have tea and warm up.)

"Oooh, this is nice." Eleven said, sitting and bouncing a little on the couch. Rose grinned.

"Isn't much, but it's home, you know? I've never lived anywhere but here, even when Dad was alive, when I was a baby." she said, heading into the kitchen. "You lot want some tea?"

"I'll help you." Ten volunteered, hopping to his feet. "Where is everything?"

"Mugs are in that cupboard." she said, pointing, and he started taking them out, elaborately, sometimes looking at one and shaking his head and putting it back, then taking another one.

She laughed. "Doesn't need to be fancy." she said, searching though the snack cupboards for biscuits. She'd made some the other day, and they were here somewhere...

"Got 'em!" she said triumphantly.

"Got what?" Nine said, poking his head in, and she waved the plate of biscuits at him. His eyes widened.

"You made those for us?"

"Not you, specifically, just made 'em last weekend and since they're here, I thought we could eat 'em." she said, taking the plastic off the tray. "Go on, have one. They came out good."

He took one, chewed and swallowed, then grinned one of his most maniacal grins.

"_Mmm_. Fantastic_._"

"Really?" Rose said. Mum was never really pleased when she made biscuits, usually just kissed her forehead and said thank you but didn't actually eat them. Not that this was bad, Mum just wasn't much for treats.

"Yes, 'course they are." he said, taking another one.

"Save some for the rest of us." Ten told him, taking one for himself. "Ooh, these are brilliant, Rose."

She laughed. "Didn't know I was such a good baker."

"Well, Mum's are the best, but that's just 'cause she's _Mum._" Ten said. "Yours are a very close second."

She giggled. "I can handle a very close second. Eleven, come in here, you're missing the biscuits!"

Eleven dashed in. "No one said anything about _that._" he exclaimed, taking three.

"Now none of us are going to get any." Nine grumbled. "Nice work, Rose."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't be like that." she said, and turned to Eleven. "And you, save some biscuits for the rest of us, yeah?"

Eleven grumbled something though a mouthful of biscuit and sat down at the table in the kitchen.

Rose made the tea, poured it into cups, and out of the corner of her eye saw Ten scanning cupboards for milk and sugar. She silently pointed to the fridge, and his eyebrows rose a half inch and he opened it.

"Sugar? In the fridge? I can understand jam, or milk, but sugar?" he said.

"I dunno, it's always been there, I guess." she said, and he didn't say anything else, just shook his head.

Finally, after a few more minutes of being incredulous (or maybe it was seconds) he took them out and they sat down, eating biscuits and drinking tea and talking, and it was quite peaceful. They talked about anything and nothing, the wedding of Amy and Rory that Sarah Jane and Amy were making themselves sick over, and Ten grumbled for a little while about the car and how long it would take to get the water out until Nine calmly whacked him on the back and told him to stop moaning.

It would have continued to be peaceful in this odd way had Mum not burst through the front door, loudly proclaiming "I'm home, sweetheart!"

"Hi, Mum." Rose said, jabbing Nine sharply with her elbow when he threatened to snicker. "I'm in here."

Jackie Tyler turned into the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of Rose and three boys, all in various degrees of 'sopping wet', sprawled on the floor, eating biscuits and drinking tea.

"Hello, Rose's Mum." Eleven said cheerily from his place (with his back on the floor and his legs up on the wall, like he was sitting, but sideways.) This time, unlike the first time he'd said this, yesterday, she smiled at him.

"Hello. Which one are you, then?" she asked, curiously. Rose remembered that she had described both Ten and Eleven as floppy-haired, even though Ten's wasn't floppy, but she wasn't about to say "and Ten has _really_ great hair" to her mum, at least, not when she'd just spent a while convincing her that she wasn't going round looking for a relationship.

Eleven stared contentedly at the ceiling, wiping biscuit crumbs off his chin. "I'm Eleven." he said.

"I'm Ten." Ten added. He was leaning against a cabinet, legs sticking out carelessly in front of him. Jackie glanced at his dirty white trainers, and Rose was forcefully reminded that her mum hated messy floors.

Ten noticed the same moment she did. "Sorry, d'you want me to take these off?"

"Oh, no, it's all right." Jackie said, forcing a smile, and glanced around.

Nine was slumped against the fridge, eyes closed, hands behind his head, legs stuck out in front of him and crossed at the ankles.

"That's Nine." Rose said pointedly.

His eyes shot open. "Oh. Sorry." he said, holding out a hand, and Jackie shook it bemusedly.

"Right." she said. "Well. It's nice to meet you all. That your car out there?"

"D'you like her?" Ten asked eagerly. "Ooh, she's lovely. Gets us everywhere we need to go."

"It's a very nice car." Jackie said politely. "And I'm quite glad you can drive Rose places, I don't like her on that bus all the time."

"Rose says that bus is full of creeps and hoboes." Eleven said, grinning in her direction.

"And it smells." Nine added.

"And it's cold." Rose said, laughing. "God, I hate that bus."

Jackie smiled. "Well, be glad you don't have to take it any longer then." She turned back to the boys. "So, at home, is it just you three?"

She knew the answer to that, Rose thought, what, did Mum think that she'd lie about them having a sister?

"Oh, no, we've got a sister, too, and Mum and Dad, obviously. Amy, our sister's name is. And there's Aunt Donna and Great-Uncle Wilf, but they're not blood family, though I suppose they do count, don't they?" Ten said, looking at Nine for confirmation.

"You'd know, you're the one over at Aunt Donna's house every bloody week." he said. "But yeah, s'pose they count."

"You'd like Aunt Donna, Rose." Ten said. "She's brilliant."

"Ooh! And Rory's going to be family soon." Eleven said. "Our sister's getting married in the spring." he added, to Jackie, who looked a tad bit confused.

"Oh, yeah, Mum and Aunt Donna are going to have fun planning _that._" Nine said.

Eleven laughed from his position on the floor. "Amy's going to be a nightmare."

"We've got until New Year's, hopefully, then she'll go _completely_ mad." Ten said dryly, standing up and stretching. "Speaking of which, the rain's stopped, well, mostly, anyway, and we should get home to our dear, mad sister."

"Mmm." Nine hummed, standing, then helping Rose to her feet. He and Ten went over to stand by Eleven.

"Get up." Ten said casually.

"No." Eleven muttered.

"Get _up, _you lazy ape." Nine said, nudging Eleven in the side with his foot.

Eleven said bolt upright. "You kicked me."

"Did not."

"Rooose, he_ kicked_ me!"

Eleven could not have sounded more outraged unless you told him bowties had been erased from the universe, Rose thought.

"I just nudged you, now get going." Nine said, and Eleven stood up with a look of deep displeasure on his face.

"Kicked me." Eleven muttered again, mulishly.

"What're you gonna do, sic your girlfriend on me?" Nine snorted. Rose shook her head.

"Honestly, you two." she said, and Ten nodded his agreement.

"They're always like this." he said conversationally, nodding towards his brothers, who were now intensely arguing in whispers as they walked towards the door.

"Mm, what a trial that must be for you." Rose teased, grinning at him.

"It is." Ten said indignantly. "They never stop, and-oh, that was _sarcasm_, wasn't it?"

"It was, yeah." she said, stopping at the doorway and leaning against it. "This was fun."

"Yes, it was." he agreed. "We should do this again. As often as possible."

"And more adventures?" she asked. "I mean, getting chips is quite an experience. I can't help but wonder what other schemes you have up your sleeve."

"Definitely, more adventures." he said. "I promise."

"Good," Rose said, and for a second, with him standing there framed in her doorway with the last dregs of rain dripping off the roof and into his hair, she thought about kissing him, her arms round his neck and their lips together, his hands on her face. And then he turned to yell "Oi, get your arse out of the driver's seat, Nine!" and the moment was gone. All she had left was a shaky feeling in her fingers and stomach.

He turned to grin at her, and before she could do anything about anything he leaned over and gave her a tight, warm hug. Her arms reached up to wrap around him automatically. "See you tomorrow." he said in her ear, and then he was off, running down the steps of the building to his car.

She stayed in the doorway and watched then drive off, then went back into the house. Mum smiled at her.

"They seem quite nice, sweetheart."

"I'm glad you like 'em, Mum. They are, they're the best. Oh, and Amy's invited me to her wedding, too!"

"Really? Will we have to get you a dress?"

"It's not til spring. But I'm prob'ly gonna help with the planning 'n all." Rose grinned, sitting on the couch with her arms wrapped round her knees. "It's gonna be great. Amy's so beautiful. Rory's lucky. But Amy's says she's the lucky one. I think they're gonna be happy together."

"Well, with three brothers, she'd have a fight on her hands to convince them to let her get married at all, so he must be a good enough boy, don't you think, sweetheart? Especially if she's marrying him in her last year of school." Mum said. "I remember an old friend of mine, her brothers turned down any boy that came to her door up until she was almost thirty!"

Rose laughed. "They're a bit protective, but not that bad. The just want her to have a good life." she said, and quieted, tightening her arms around her knees. "They're so happy, Mum. He walks her to class, and he'll always kiss her cheek or her hand goodbye, it's the sweetest thing."

"You wish you could have something like that, don't you." Mum said, sounding so sad.

"Well…" Rose fidgeted. "Doesn't everyone?"

Mum just looked at her. She looked away, silently begging,_ let it go, not now, not now._

When the doorbell rang, she bolted up at the excuse, "I'll get it!" bouncing off her tongue and sounding far too cheery. Mum sighed, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw her walking away down the hall as Rose hurried to the door.

"You forget something?" she called. She opened the door a little carelessly, thinking it was Ten or Nine or Eleven back again. And then a hand gripped her wrist and she was tugged outside, the door was pulled closed behind her, and her stomach dropped. Like being on a roller coaster, that same sort of mad fear, only this was different, this wasn't going to be over in two minutes.

She looked into cold, sky blue eyes and held her breath.

"Hello, Rose." Jimmy Stone said.

"Jimmy." she said, not letting her voice shake. A tiny victory.

"'Forget something?'" he repeated, saying what she'd yelled as she ran to the door. "Who's here to _forget_ things? Your mum's home."

"I've got friends, they were over today." she said, keeping it vague on purpose.

He laughed, short and harsh. "You? Friends? There's a surprise. I though' you just had that stupid fucker _Mickey._"

She winced. "Don't." she tried to say, and his hand squeezed her wrist dangerously.

"Tell me about your friends." he said, his voice low. "Tell your Jimmy about your new friends."

"There's, ah." she stammered. His hand twisted on her skin and she knew there would be welts, tomorrow, and she had to keep him from realizing they were all boys, her friends, because who _knew_ what he'd do then, she certainly didn't, but she knew it would be bad and she imagined him beating them, too, imagined them bleeding and hating her and she swallowed a sob that had nothing to do with Jimmy's hand on her wrist.

"There's, ah." he mimicked. "Tell me, baby, tell your Jimmy all about how _happy_ you are and how many _friends _you have and how not one of them knows that you're a bloody _whore."_

She contemplated yelling for Mum, but decided against it. She could handle this, she told herself. She didn't need to worry Mum any more than she had already. This was her problem and she would deal with it.

"Jimmy, let go of me." she said.

"Why should I, sweetheart?"

"Because-" She tugs at his grip, hard. "Because I said no. Because we're over. Because I don't want you here. Take your pick, Jimmy."

"Aww, baby, you don't mean that. Sides, who else do you got but me?" Jimmy said, smirking and leaning in close to her, to whisper in her ear. "You're _mine, _baby. You're marked. And hell, who else would want a little fat bitch like you?"

"Shut up." she whispered.

"_Shut up." _he mimicked. "You're mine, baby. Always have been, always will be."

He let go of her, finally. "In sickness and in health, hey, baby? Maybe I should take care of that. Maybe then you wouldn't be runnin' round with fuckin' Mickey, you little slut." he said, with a big grin, like he was joking, but she saw the cold anger coiled in his eyes.

He made sure to lean over and squeeze her arse before he sauntered off down the hall from her apartment door. She stood there, very still, her hand still on the doorknob. She'd hadn't moved a step, besides tugging at his grip, since she stepped outside.

She realized, vaguely, that she was shaking.

She slipped back into the house, and walked down the hall to her room, feeling light and floaty.

She closed her door and turned, looking into her mirror on the back of the door. Numbly, almost mechanically, she started to get ready for bed.

She turned her back on the mirror, unable to watch herself.

Her shirt scratched against her back and she stiffened, closing her eyes.

Mum had asked about it, either to herself or to Rose, several times. "How did I not notice, sweetheart? How did I not see he was hurting you?" But Jimmy had been good at that, good at twisting people's minds, good at lying, good at hiding. Good at hurting, too.

He'd been especially good at hurting, good at hurting her, where no one could see, bruises on her sides and back and wrists, and she would hide them, hide his marks, his hickeys and the marks of his fingers on her ribs and wrists. And he'd never stop. Whenever she did something bad, whenever she upset him, he would have something else, some other way to hurt her.

She ran her hand up her back, carefully, finding the spot where her shirt had caught before. The burn.

She winced as she touched it, remembering pain, intense, like jolts.

They'd had a row that night.

_She was at the stove, cooking pasta for Mum when he came in, complaining lightly about how the food wasn't done yet. When he'd seen her making it, he'd said "What, can't your fatass mother make her own food?"_

_"Stop it, Jimmy." she'd said. "Stop it. You always do that, you always have a go at my mum, and at Mickey, and you need to stop."_

_"So _protective _all of a sudden. There something I should know about you and Mickey? You ain't lying to me, are you, you little shit?"_

_She forgot so often how easy he could get angry. And she knew something bad was coming._

_"Jimmy, stop that, you know I wouldn't do that. He's my best friend, is all."_

_"I _bet_ he is, you little whore." Jimmy shouted, and then all of a sudden the pot was in his hand and before she could do anything he'd spun her around and tugged up her shirt and the boiling water was running down her back and it _burned_._

_Oh, god, it was like she was on fire._

_She'd screamed, then. The world had gone fuzzy, the pain had blocked her other senses out. But he'd taken her shirt all the way off and positioned her with her back to the stove, and placed her T-shirt on the ground, along with the pot._

_Her mother had come running. And after taking a look at Rose with her shirt off and Jimmy doing an impression of terror and worry, she'd come to the conclusion that they'd been having a snog and Rose had backed into the pot of pasta water._

_And Rose hadn't said a word, and Jimmy had held her hand all the way to the hospital as they rode in the ambulance, his grip far too tight. _

_"Now you'll only be mine, you whore." he hissed in her ear, pretending to be comforting her. "No one else will want you now."_

_She'd closed her eyes._

She opened them now, and looked over her shoulder into the mirror, running her fingers over the scar. She'd never really looked at it before-it had just been another reminder, one of Jimmy and how angry he could be. How she shouldn't make him mad. It was her own fault that she had this scar, she'd made him angry. She looked at it now, the sections of red and wrinkled skin on the base of her back where the water had landed, where he'd held the pot for a second before dropping it.

_Ugly._ she thought. _He is right, then. Maybe all I'll have left is him, in the end. Maybe that's why he did it. No one wants a girl with scars._

He messed with her head, every time he came, Jimmy. Now she didn't know what was right and what was wrong. All she knew was that somehow, all of this was her fault. He'd said it was. The police officer had said as much, too, when she'd went to get the restraining order with Mum, he'd said _what have you done to yourself? _with his stare.

She curled up in her blankets and closed her eyes, wanting it all to go away for a little while. He would stop eventually, she reasoned. He would lose interest, and she would be safe again. Until then, she'd just stay inside or close to someone and it would all be fine, and Mum would never have to know.

It didn't make her feel any better to think. She closed her eyes and told herself to sleep, but not dream.

She would be fine, she thought. She had to be fine.

But oddly enough, her dreams that night weren't of Jimmy, weren't nightmares.

Instead she dreamed of Ten, his friendly smile and how safe she felt running with him, his hand in hers.

* * *

_A/N: Well, here you go! Finally!_

_I can't really make any excuses for how long it took me to write this, except for my case of writer's block and a very busy schedule. School's over soon, though, and then I should be able to write more. _

_Rose is obviously very confused and a bit OOC in this chapter. She won't be like this the whole thing, I just thought I should say. Her new friends are going to help her heal from what Jimmy's done and she'll be back to the Rose we know and love. Believe me, I don't like torturing her like this._

_I don't own Doctor Who, or Sherlock, for that matter._

_If you notice anything, any errors, or of you have any comments, or if you just want to say hey, leave me a review!_

_Much love, Ninjee_


	5. Boom Town

**Chapter Five**

Nothing much had actually happened the rest of that week, and that had put her a bit on edge. No calls, only one message, but besides that, no nothing, and she declined Ten's offers to go to his house, because she was scared – of what, she didn't really know, but she was scared all the same. So she hadn't gone to the Smith's old house at the edge of the city – "It's an old manor, been passed down in the family, you know, there's supposed to be secret passages and that sort of thing, Dad swears there's about six but Nine and Eleven and Amy and I've only found about three, and Nine thinks Dad's lying but Uncle Five swears up and down he's telling the truth. You should come and help us look, fresh eyes and that sort of thing!" Ten had said to her, almost all in one breath, and she'd marveled quietly at his lung capacity – but she hadn't gone.

She couldn't explain exactly _why _she hadn't gone, all she knew was that now she was waiting, and the whole "waiting for something bad to happen because I know in my heart that it will" thing was a tad bit underrated, because it was the worst kind of fear possible, and also the thing that Jimmy _thrived_ on.

And instead of hunting for secret passages in the old Smith manor, she stayed home, watched telly and talked with Mum a bit, went to school. No Adventures – maybe Ten could sense she wasn't in the mood.

* * *

Thursday morning, smoke poured from the chemistry lab, and they rushed to it only to find a frazzled and angry-looking John dragging another boy with dark curly hair – "That's Sherlock," Jack mumbled in her ear – away from the door, ignoring his frantic shouts about the state of his experiment.

"Human eyes, Sherlock!"

"They were from Lestrade, they weren't stolen! It's for science!"

"Science involves blowing yourself up now?"

"That's half the fun!" Sherlock shouted petulantly, his hair singed.

Eleven buried his face in River's shoulder to stifle his laughter.

* * *

Thursday afternoon, Rory pulled flowers out of his locker for Amy, surprising her. She threw her arms around his neck and laughed, saying, "You're such a cheeseball, stupid face." but seeming incredibly happy all the same. River grinned at the pair of them, and casually asked Eleven, "So, you going to buy me flowers?"

He sputtered for a moment before she assured him she was joking with a slightly wicked smile.

"Quit messing with my baby brother, Mels." Amy laughed, flowers in one hand and Rory's hand clasped tightly in her other one.

"Mels?" Rose mouthed to Jack, who seemed to be her helper in the confusion that day.

"That's her name." Jack mumbled back. "Her name's Melody Song – I know, that's going just a little overboard – and so everyone calls her River." He paused. "Well, except Amy when she wants to be annoying."

That made Rose laugh.

* * *

Friday, they found Sherlock in the computer lab hacking the server (which blocked all the interesting things you could do on a computer) furiously.

When John asked him crossly 'what on Earth he thought he was doing', they discovered he had hacked to systems enough to play The Sims, and he was currently having some Sims commit crimes and others solve the crimes.

John tilted his head back and sighed loudly. "Dear God."

"There is no God." Sherlock said absentmindedly as he had a Sim burn down a building.

Rose thought she might just believe that when she found a text on her phone later.

_gonna find you real soon nd ur gonna cum back 2 me right baby girl?_

* * *

Friday afternoon, they finally convinced her to come and have some fun and go over to their Aunt Donna's house, where she lived with her grandfather. The two of them looked after each other there, Ten explained. She warned them that she had to be home by five.

"Why so early?" Eleven complained.

"Your mum's a bit tight with the rules, isn't she?" Nine remarked, squinting at her.

"My _mum_," Rose snapped, "is brilliant. I just promised I'd help with laundry today, that's all."

_Lie, lie, lie. _Jimmy sang in her head. _Rosie, Rosie, little bitch, how does your garden grow?_

_With silver-tongued lies and sweet little smiles and things done wrong and all in a row. _a voice in her mind finished for him, and she wondered if she was going mad, then she heard a voice calling her name and tried to shake her fear and paranoia. She was acting like an idiot, Jimmy _wasn't here, _and it did no good to hate herself and wallow around in her fear like she'd been doing. She might have done the wrong thing with Jimmy, might have messed up, but this was a different school and a different day and here, she would try harder.

"Rose!" the voice yelled again, and she realized belatedly that it was Jack.

"Hi, Jack." she said, turning around. "What is it?"

"I need you to do something with me." Jack said. "Come downtown with me, tomorrow."

"What, to the shops?" she said. "Why?"

She did hope he wasn't asking her out.

"I need a wingwoman." Jack explained, and then she started to laugh, realizing as she did just how relieved she was. She supposed it was something to worry about when the very _mention_ of a love life to a halfway to seventeen year old girl made said girl's shoulders tense and mind whirl and stomach queasy, but she didn't want to focus on that.

"Is this a specific job? Specific person? Or just in general?" she teased lightly, and he laughed too.

"Does that mean you'll do it?"

"Sure." she said, and he beamed.

"Great! I'll meet you by Henrik's tomorrow, alright?"

"'Course." she called after him as he dashed off. "Don't you be late."

Eleven appeared then, grabbing her arm and dragging her along lightly, grumbling about the time she's wasting flirting when she could be meeting Aunt Donna and Great-Uncle Wilf.

She crossed her eyes at him and he giggled like a child.

* * *

Their Aunt Donna was brilliant.

Absolutely, fantastically brilliant. She called Ten "Spaceboy" and pulled on Nine's ears and ruffled Eleven's floppy hair, and it was clear that this sort of irritation could only be born from love. Their great-uncle Wilf was an expert stargazer and conspiracy theorist, and Ten listened intently to all of his stories like he believed every word. Donna was outspoken and brash and could go head to toe with Nine, and whenever they argued playfully it was a combination of Donna's funny insults and Nine's intense sarcasm and Rose wondered if they could bottle and sell it or make it into a show on telly. She mentioned the idea to Eleven, who nodded.

"Mmm, yes, it'd be quality entertainment."

"So what are you all doing this weekend?" she asked, and Ten plopped down on her other side.

"Amy says she's going to teach us to dance." Eleven said sulkily. "I can dance fine."

"Not the kind of dancing there's going to be at the wedding." Ten pointed out.

"I can dance!" Eleven protested.

"You dance like a baby giraffe just learning to walk, only it was born with no center of balance so it just stumbles about." Nine called from across the room.

"Good one." their Aunt Donna said appreciatively. She was coming back in from the kitchen, holding a glass of water which she passed to Wilf. Then she fixed her eyes on Rose, who unconsciously sat up straighter.

"So." she said. "This is the Rose you were talking about on Wednesday, right, Spaceboy?"

"I…well, yes." Ten said, stuttered a bit, and Nine snorted.

She heard him mutter something about _talked our bloody ears off, hate it when he gets like this_ before Donna was talking again.

"You live on the estate with your mum, right?"

"Yes." she said cautiously.

"Used to have friends out there. Not exactly the nicest place, but nice people." Donna said, and she felt Ten relax next to her.

"Please, Aunt Donna, you've had your head in the sand for the last decade." Nine said from over by the bookshelf, effectively drawing the conversation away from Rose. She mouthed _thank you_ at him. He grinned at her. "Until you moved here and met us, you only cared about beans on toast and telly."

"Shut it, you." Donna said, pointing a finger at him.

"When did you move here?" Rose asked, genuinely curious, and Donna shrugged.

"When they were just kids. Eleven wasn't more than four. I was two streets down and they saw the moving trucks, and all of a sudden I've got four kids in my front lawn asking me a billion questions – _where are you from, what's your name, are you an alien, what do you do, why aren't you smiling?_ – bunch of little twerps, they were."

"You really asked if she was an alien?" Rose asked Ten, giggling.

"Think so." he said. "It's a bit blurry."

"Completely idiotic. There I was, just getting over being left at the altar, and here come these four, intent on having a good time and playing alien games." Donna huffed.

"But you did play with us." Eleven said cheerfully, straightening his bowtie.

"Well, you didn't seem all bad." Donna said, but her gentle smile betrayed her.

They left the house later to Wilf's old music and Rose could feel love sinking into her pores from how much of it was saturated into the walls and the floorboards of that house.

* * *

The next morning, she put her hair in pigtails and went to Henrik's to meet Jack.

He came strolling up to her wearing suspenders and a button down shirt and turning heads, taking her hand and kissing it and then smirking at her. She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Romeo." she told him, noting the widened, slightly jealous eyes of the women (and a few men) passing them on the street. "Let's get going. Who exactly am I being the wing-woman for, anyway?"

"Me." Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I meant, is there a specific person out there in the shops or am I just here for anyone?"

"I'm hurt." Jack chuckled, giving her an easy grin. "You think I flirt with just anyone?"

She snorted, ignoring that. "You flirt with me."

"You're not just anyone." he pointed out, and they started walking down the street.

Well, you certainly don't need _me_ around to get a date." she pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him. It was surprisingly relaxing, this – she'd forgotten what it was like to just go out with a friend for a while. "You seem to have 'em lined up, at school."

"Yeah, well." Jack said, allowing that. "Ianto's not in our school."

"So where does _Ianto_ go?"

"He's in private school."

"Ooh, so your new boy's gifted and talented, is he?" She tossed a grin over her shoulder at him, and he wiggled his eyebrows.

"In more ways than one." he said.

She laughed and he winked at her.

* * *

Apparently Ianto's parents owned a bakery near Henrik's.

Rose sucked down chocolate chip muffins and caramel chai tea (she wasn't sure how that was even possible, but she was _not _complaining) and watched as Jack flirted madly with Ianto over the counter. Ianto was a cute, witty seventeen-year-old, and after a few minutes of listening, she could tell why Jack liked him.

His friend Gwen, who worked the counter with him, came over to where Rose was sitting and introduced herself. "Are you one of Jack's friends from school?" she asked, and Rose nodded.

"We just met, I transferred there in November." she explained, smiling. Gwen seemed nice, with long dark hair and a gap between her front teeth. There was soft, crooning music playing over the speakers, the sort of stuff Mum listened to.

"Really?" Gewn asked. "Why?"

Rose shrugged. "I just did. Where do you go?"

"To the Torchwood Institute. Ianto's there with me, and Tosh and Own and Rhys, my boyfriend. I'm gonna study criminal justice."

"You want to be part of the police, huh?" Rose said, smiling.

"Yes, I think I'd like to be useful, and maybe I could really help people, you know. What about you?"

"I'm not sure, honestly." Rose said thoughtfully. "But I've always wanted to travel. Maybe I'll do that."

"You've got to have money to travel." Gwen mused.

"Yeah, well." Rose shrugged. "I don't s'pose I'd like doing anything else. Maybe I could work on an airplane, or something. Y'know, then I'd get to travel."

"Not very glamorous, though." Gwen said, leaning on the counter across from her. She placed her chin in her hands and looked Rose in the eyes.

"Yeah, well, that's not the point, is it?" Rose said, raising her own hands in a "what-can-you-do" gesture. "The point is to see new places. Different ground beneath your feet. But I don't think I could ever really do it." she added. "I'd be afraid. And it's a lot of bother."

"Afraid?" Gwen's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "Of what?"

"I dunno." Rose looked down into her tea. "A little of everything."

"But you do wanna travel, right?" Gwen asked, and Rose shrugged again.

"S'pose I do."

"Then forget the world." Gwen said, looking at her earnestly as Ianto turned away from Jack to work the latte machine for a customer, fighting a smile. "If you want to do something, do it."

"That'll be to go." the customer said.

"Enjoy your coffee, sir." Ianto answered, nodding at him.

"Sir?" Jack said, looking wounded. "You never call me _sir_."

"Careful." Ianto said, smiling at him. "That's harassment."

Gwen and Rose looked at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"Boys." Gwen said affectionately, and Rose nodded her agreement, taking another sip of tea.

* * *

"Rose," her mum called the next morning, "take the list off the counter and go shopping for me, could you? Take Mickey with you. It's just some soap and things, you can get 'em a couple blocks away. Some mail, too."

"Sure, Mum." Rose said, kissing her mum's cheek as she passed her in the hall. Within five minutes, she was downstairs at Mickey's apartment.

The "come straight home" didn't even need to be said anymore. She didn't know if that made her sad or not.

Oh, well. She and Mickey went to the store on the corner and picked up the soap and milk and eggs, and Mickey tried on the hats that were in the corner of the shop and made her laugh so hard she worried they'd get thrown out. They didn't, but the glaring man at the counter intimidated them enough to make them leave after a few well-done imitations of their year four teacher, Mrs. Guiles.

(She'd been an old woman with a sharp glare, an odd fedora-like hat, and a crackly voice. No one had liked her the least bit.)

Now they were on their way to the post office to mail a package off to one of Mum's friends, it was someone's birthday. Mum was very good about that sort of thing.

Mickey kept trying to steal the package from under her arm. She was laughing and darting out of the way, trying to stop him. He tickled her and she giggled breathlessly.

"If you break that, Mickey, I swear-" she warned, and he laughed.

"You're not the slightest bit curious about what it is?" he asked, making another grab for it.

"I know exactly what it is, probably expensive liquor for one of Mum's friends. Which means we shouldn't shake it around and maybe break it." she said back, giving him a fake glare that made him chuckle.

"Can't scare me, Rose." he said.

She scowled at him and hefted the package closer to her. "Just don't try and break it."

Of course, he was diving for it in a second again, and she laughed and twirled, trying to keep it from him.

She heard a honk from behind her and turned, shading her eyes with her hand. It was sunny, for winter, and it made her eyes hurt a bit when the sun glinted off the ice.

"Got it!" Mickey shouted triumphantly, and the package disappeared from under her arm. She didn't respond. "Rose..?"

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Mickey turn around, too. She knew without looking that he was confused, and maybe a little hurt that they were being interrupted, although she was pretty sure he didn't really like her as much as he once did, not like that.

"Hello!" Ten said cheerfully from the driver's seat of his blue convertible. Even though it was a cold winter day, he hadn't put the roof up, and Rose wanted to chuckle at the three of them, pink cheeks and ears and noses.

Ten had a scarf and gloves, and his hair was even messier than usual from the wind. Nine was sitting next to him, shotgun, nothing but his usual leather jacket to keep out the cold, and Eleven was in the backseat, sitting on top of it so that he was a full head and shoulders taller than his brothers. Eleven waved to her, and then lifted his hand to adjust the fez on his head after they'd stopped.

"Question, Rose," Eleven stated, looking a bit worried. "Do I look like a stuffy old professor of archeology?"

"Of course not, why?" she said, even though with the tweed jacket and elbow patches and bowtie, and that fez, he did, just a bit. She wasn't about to _say_ so, though.

"Amy said I did." he explained.

"She was right, you know." Ten said conversationally.

"She was_ not_-"

"Is this Ricky, then?" Nine asked, raising an eyebrow in the fourth boy's direction.

"You know full well his name's Mickey." Rose said, exasperated. She'd explained this to him multiple times, and why he insisted on mucking up Mickey's name, she'd never know.

"Is it really? I never knew that, you should have told me." Nine said, completely straight-faced.

"Who are these guys, Rose?" Mickey asked.

"These," Rose said, speaking over Ten and Eleven's argument about Eleven's clothing, "are Jonathan, John, and J-O-N Jon Smith. More commonly known as Nine, Ten, and Eleven." She gestured to each of the boys in turn as she spoke. "Boys, this is my friend Mickey Smith."

"Oh, would you look at that, four Smiths! Only one Tyler, though, poor Rose." Eleven said, smiling and waving at Mickey.

Ten nodded, grinning, and Nine waved a hand absently.

"You're all named John?" Mickey asked dubiously. "No way. You're having a go at me."

"Nope, it's true, very true in fact." Ten said. "There've been eight John Smith's before us, and I suppose there'll be more. Eventually, you know. Though it might be quite soon, with Amy and Rory, but Amy'll be a Pond, then, won't she? So it wouldn't be John Smith, it'd be John Pond, and that wouldn't do at all."

Mickey stared, his eyes bugging a little. Finally, unable to think of something he could add, he said, "What's with the blue car, then?"

"Don't you dare insult Sexy." Eleven warned, pointing a finger at him.

"These are the blokes you're friends with now? A couple of guys who call cars sexy?" Mickey said.

"Keep in mind he isn't speaking for all of us." Nine muttered.

"Better not let River hear you say that, she might get a bit jealous." Rose said, smiling at Eleven and reaching over to ruffle his hair. He grumbled and ducked out of the way.

"Who's River?" Mickey asked, seeming to get more confused by the minute.

"River Song, my girlfriend." Eleven said proudly. He stuffed a hand into his pocket. "I've got a picture, look!" He waved it proudly in Rose's face and she chuckled.

"Might as well be your wife for the way you carry on about her." Nine grumbled. "Damn domestics."

"Don't bicker, you two." Ten said.

"As if you weren't lecturing him about his bloody fez five minutes ago-"

"Fezzes are cool!"

"_In any case,_ we're here for a reason." Ten said, shaking his head and laughing.

"What, why?" Rose asked. "Has Sherlock gotten into trouble again? Blown something up? Told the whole of the British government to piss off?" Apparently Sherlock's brother was a high-ranking government official, and he and Sherlock disliked each other to a point above normal sibling irritation.

"As far as I know, Mycroft hasn't been around lately, so nothing could've happened." Ten said. "And no, nothing like that."

"Nothing at all like that." Eleven agreed.

"It's Amy, you see, her wedding's going to be in the spring, you know, and she's gone mad." Ten explained. "And so we, her lovely brothers, are going to the store, because having a cup of English Breakfast usually calms her down a little. And we're out."

"And then we saw you walking the streets with Ricky and decided to say hello." Nine said, and waggled his fingers at her. "Hello!"

"Wedding?" Mickey asked, looking completely lost.

"Our sister, she's getting married in the spring." Ten explained.

"Mum says they might have it in the garden." Eleven said. "They're already worried about all of that, but at least if it's in the garden they won't have to worry about flowers. And an Amy less worried is better for all of us."

"Hang on, what_ about _Amy?" Rose asked with concern. After all, they'd just wasted quite a bit of time talking to her, and poor Amy was at their house worrying herself sick over whatever was going on, probably some small detail about the wedding.

"Oh, Mum'll look after her." Nine said dismissively.

"Oh, no you don't!" Rose scolded. "Go and get Amy's tea! She must be beside herself by now."

"But Rose." Ten whined playfully. "We don't like the store."

"Terrible place." Eleven said with a nod.

"Awful." Nine agreed.

"Come with us." Ten wheedled, turning his grin at her, and she felt herself melt a little inside.

"Why, are you scared of the fruit? The big bad bread?" she asked, because she couldn't go, much as she would like to, and have those lovely brown eyes focused on her for a bit longer. Mum was expecting her. Worrying Mum was something she never wanted to do again. "The aliens hiding in the cans of peas?"

Ten considered her statement thoughtfully. "We-ell, not really afraid, per se, more like-"

"Terrified." Nine said, laughing. "A pile of pears fell over and onto him when he was little. He hasn't been normal since."

"Oi!" Ten yelped.

"Never did like pears." Eleven mused to himself.

"Rose, please come with us, please?" Ten begged, clasping his hands together and giving her a look not unlike a begging puppy.

"No, I'm sorry, Ten, you'll have to face the store on your own, Mum needs me to run errands." she said.

"Hug for luck, then?" Ten asked hopefully, holding out his arms. "Pray the pears don't eat me?"

Grateful for an excuse to touch him, she leaned over and slid her arms around him. His arms were warm in the December air, and she wanted to press her face into his shoulder and just breathe him in. They pulled apart too soon.

Just like last time, when she hugged him, she felt safe enough to think about dangerous things, like how nice his eyes were when he smiled or that maybe she'd very much like to hug him forever.

But once she pulled away, all the other things came rushing back, Jimmy and what she'd promised herself, but maybe they were a little quieter in her head, a little less insistent, even if she didn't think about that.

She gave quick hugs to the other two as well, and stepped back as they drove off. Eleven, holding onto his fez so it wouldn't fly off, turned to wave.

Mickey coughed behind her and she started, she'd forgotten he was there.

"Sorry, Micks." she said, embarrassed.

"You've got a thing for him, then, babe?" Mickey said, and she was relieved to see that he didn't look angry, just a little worried.

"I don't know." she said, because her own mind and body seemed to be revolting against her, and he seemed to understand. He slung an arm over her shoulders and they walked the rest of the way to the post office without saying a word.

* * *

_A/N: Hey, everyone!_

_Sorry this took so long. What with my finals and the end of the year and whatnot, I didn't have much time. Also, Jack was giving me some trouble - we never see the in-between with him and Rose, just the beginning when they barely know each other and the end result, which is time-traveling besties. So I had to guess about the middle stage. I hope it came out okay._

_Anyway, Gwen and Ianto have a cameo, and Eleven gets huffy when you criticize his clothing choices. And this chapter is called Boom Town, because that's the only carefree sort of episode where Rose, Mickey, Jack, and the Doctor are all together. Whatever, I thought it made sense.  
_

_I don't own Doctor Who! (Or Torchwood.)_

_I'll try to get the next chapter out in a couple weeks! Please R&R!_

_xx Ninjee_


	6. The Doctor Dances

**Chapter Six**

The Wednesday after Mickey met the Smiths – that sounded like a bad movie, she grumbled to herself – John tapped her on the shoulder in Biology and they both looked at her C on the latest test for a moment.

"You know, I could help you, if you wanted." he offered. "I used to tutor younger kids. I explain things pretty well."

She glared in disgust at her messy notes and diagrams and sighed. "Well, it couldn't do any harm, could it?"

John chuckled a little. "After school, then?"

She nodded. "Fine. I'll be amazed if you can actually make sense of this."

He laughed again, saluting her, and the bell rang and he walked out the door. "I'll do my best."

* * *

A few minutes into a conversation about the functions of the parts of cells, her mobile rang, and she looked at the name on it for a second before holding up a finger to John and flipping it open.

"Yes, Ten, what is it?"

"I thought I was giving you a ride? You are staying over with Amy and River tonight, right?"

"John's trying to help me a bit with my biology, forgot to tell you, sorry. I can take a bus, if you'd like to leave." she said.

"'Course not, I'll wait. I'll be outside." Ten said, and she could imagine his smile and how his brown eyes would glow.

She shook her head, removing the image.

"Right." she said. "So you'll just wait. The whole time."

"Well, I might go to the bookshop for a bit." he admitted. "Get some tea, you know. It _is_ cold."

"You just want to read Shakespeare or somethin' so you'll look impressive when people look over at you."

"Oi, cheeky, Shakespeare was a genius." he said, and she could hear him trying to hide his chuckles.

"Right, see you." she said, rolling her eyes.

John didn't say anything, just gave her a faintly amused look.

John was a fairly good teacher, even if he was sometimes (or a lot of the time) interrupted by texts that made him grin and sometimes blush, and he always answered them right away before going back to the tutoring. It was sort of cute, how his face lit up.

She came to the conclusion after the fourth text that this was his boyfriend; the boy Sherlock that had been blowing things up a few days ago. She didn't get concrete evidence until the boy himself came in about twenty minutes into the session.

Sherlock was tall, about half a foot taller than John, and had unruly, curly black hair, pale skin, eyes that were a little squinty, and sculpted cheekbones. He also had a long black coat and a scowl, although she couldn't tell if this was a permanent expression or just a passing one.

"John, what's taking you so long?" he demanded. "This case just took a turn, and Lestrade's got new evidence, and you're sitting here and – what are you doing, exactly?"

"He's trying to help me pass Biology." Rose said. "And he keeps getting interrupted by your texts. Really lights up when he gets them, it's sort of cute."

John blushed a little, and gave her a (probably patented) John Watson _Stop-That-I'm-Not-Impressed_ Look.

"I'm Rose Tyler, by the way." she added pleasantly.

He eyed her. "Why did you switch school districts?"

"What?"

John sighed, and Sherlock began talking very fast.

"You live in another district, which is clear from the bus ticket in your pocket, because why would you pay to ride the city bus if the school provides busing? Therefore you must be out of this school's bus range. So you left your original district and came here, why? Certainly not your intelligence, you're being tutored by John right now, they haven't brought you here for your grades, so why?"

"Um." Rose said, blinking. "I'd rather not…"

"Yes, but I'd like to know." Sherlock said, impatiently.

"No way, mate. It's none of your business." Rose told him, feeling her hands clench into fists at her sides. She stood up, preparing to leave.

John grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the chair. "He's sorry."

"Oh." Sherlock said, seeming to realize something. "Not good?" he said to John, almost sheepishly, but not quite. He didn't seem to be upset specifically because he'd made _her_ want to leave, more because he'd done something John didn't like.

"Bit not good, yeah." John said with a sigh, passing a hand over his face.

Rose stood again, still angry. She wasn't sure if she was angry at Sherlock or just the fact that it was there, that she had a secret and she couldn't bear to talk about it to anyone, even people she trusted like Ten or Amy. Only Mum and Mickey knew, and that was because they'd been present for it, been right in the thick of her being the stupidest damn girl alive. She shut her eyes as she tugged on her coat. "Look, I've got to go. Thanks for the help, John."

"Oh, all right, I'm sorry." Sherlock muttered mulishly, albeit after John elbowed him sharply.

"I know." she said, not angry at him at all anymore. Just herself. "S'alright. Just don't ask me about it again, yeah? I switched and that's the end of it."

She noted the way his eyes sharpened, almost excitedly, and she realized that this boy lived for figuring out puzzles.

He'd figure it out sometime, she thought, he was obviously too clever for his own good, but she doubted he'd tell anyone. Sherlock didn't seem like he was one for gossip. He'd be happy he'd figured it out, she thought, and that would be it, he wouldn't tell a soul. Hopefully.

John texted her as she walked down the hall. _Sorry about him. He's absolutely brilliant, but he's not good with people. And he hates not knowing anything. –JW_

She smiled.

_Like I said, it's okay. –Rose_

_And I do _not_ 'light up'. –JW_

_Do too. It's absolutely adorable. So are your jumpers. –Rose._

* * *

Ten, true to his word, was reading Shakespeare. Martha was sitting on the couch next to him, and they were both looking at the book and talking in whispers. Eleven and Amy were here too, Rose realized, looking at books on the back shelf and arguing. Eleven was flapping his hands around in the air; Amy had hers on her hips. Finally, Eleven burst out loudly "Amy, we already _own_ that one!" and clapped a hand over his mouth when the owner of the shop glanced over at him, amused.

Ten and Martha were reading out loud now.

"Do you know me, my lord?" Martha asked, squinting at the book and then over at Ten.

"Excellent well, you are a fishmonger." he answered, and Martha laughed.

"Not I, my lord."

"Then I would you were so honest a man." Ten said, deadpan, and Martha giggled again.

"He was quite funny, when you know what he's saying." she said thoughtfully.

Ten nodded, and then looked up. "Rose, hello! You're here early."

"Sherlock showed up." she said, shrugging. "Said somethin' bout a case. Guess I'll have to get my biology help next week." She sat down next to him and nodded to the book in his hands. "So, you actually do read Shakespeare?"

"Of course I do." he said. "So does Martha. We did it in English last year, it's brilliant."

"Why, what did they do at your school?" Martha asked.

Rose chewed on her lip. "_Lord of the Flies. _Wasn't bad. A little violent, but I s'pose that's the point."

"If you didn't like _Lord of the Flies_, what sort of books _do_ you like?" Ten asked her, and she shrugged, putting her chin on her hand.

"Mysteries." Rose said. "I like Agatha Christie." She nodded at the book in his hands again. "Still, I could never read this. How do you even know what they're talking about?"

"Ah, I dunno." Ten said, standing up and stretching. "After you read 'em for a while you start to get it."

Martha rolled her eyes. "Or you could use a Shakespeare-to-English dictionary." she stage-whispered, and Ten stuck his tongue out at her.

Rose grinned, and Martha smiled back, maybe a little stiffly.

Eleven appeared then, his face stormy, and plopped down next to Rose on the couch. "Hello." he said. "When's Nine getting here with the TARDIS?"

Rose looked at him, puzzled. "What?"

"Soon, I think. He had to drive Jack somewhere."

"We're not all gonna fit." Martha said, her eyebrows scrunching together.

"Have faith, young Skywalker." Amy said, leaning on the arm of the couch. "We'll _make_ everyone fit. Eleven could always ride in the trunk."

"_Amy!_"

"Wait, what do we need to fit in?" Rose said, still puzzled. "And what's a TARDIS?"

"Oh yes, I never told you this bit when we were on our Adventure." Ten said thoughtfully, then looked at her. "You'll think it's funny. Not the good kind of funny, though. The you're-all-mad kind of funny."

"Promise you, I won't. Just tell me." she said, curious now.

"Not here." he said. "Someone might hear." He wiggled his eyebrows, and she gave a surprised laugh.

"What are we, superspies?"

"No." Eleven said. "Too bad, really. James Bond liked bow ties."

* * *

When they left the shop a few minutes later, Rose still puzzling over what Ten had said, Nine was there, in the blue convertible.

"The TARDIS!" Eleven said proudly, extending his arms and gesturing at it.

"So it's your name for the car?" she asked.

"Yes." Ten says. "See, when we were kids and made up all the things about aliens, this was one of them. TARDIS."

"Stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space." Eleven said cheerily.

"It was both a spaceship and a time machine." Nine explained.

"Anyway, we used to say when we were big enough for cars we'd get a nice blue one, the bluest blue ever, and we'd call it the TARDIS." Eleven continued.

"They're mad." Amy said, rolling her eyes. "But they are consistent."

"That's enough out of you." Ten scolded, sitting down in the front passenger seat. Rose, Amy, Eleven, and Martha managed to squeeze into the back. Nine shot a grin back at them.

"Seatbelts." he said, and then they were off, far too fast, because Nine was the sort that drove quickly, if not recklessly.

Rose grabbed Amy's hand for dear life.

* * *

Yes, she had told Mum about the sleepover, (there was a day off tomorrow, some teacher's conference, so they could have an sleepover in the middle of the week) but she hadn't mentioned two things – one, that Nine, Ten, Eleven, and Jack were going to be there (it was more of a movie night than an actual sleepover) and two, that they were going to be wandering around London for a couple of hours at least, doing who knows what – she'd decided that Mum didn't have to know. Mostly because she wouldn't have liked it, and Rose had _really_ wanted to go.

Mum wouldn't have trusted Nine driving, either, Rose thought. Along with _at least I don't get motion sickness._

Amy shot her a sympathetic look and squeezed her hand.

"Right." Ten announced as they pulled up next to a store that sold movies and comics. "I'm driving on the way home."

"No!" Nine objected.

"It's my car!"

"It's a joint car, we all paid for it!"

"How about _I_ drive?" Eleven interjected hopefully.

"No." Nine and Ten both said at once.

Eleven left the car and walked, grumbling under his breath, into the store. Rose and Amy followed him, leaving Martha trying to calm Nine and Ten down and deflect an argument. Rose thought that leaving Martha alone with them probably wouldn't help the other girl's opinion of her any, but Nine and Ten were being idiots and she was curious about the store.

"Hello, Sally." Amy said as they walked in, and a pretty blonde woman tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Amy, hey." she said with a smile. "We've got some new movies in the back, if you'd like to look." She nodded to Rose. "Who's your friend?"

"I'm Rose Tyler." Rose said, extending a hand, and the woman shook it firmly.

"I'm Sally Sparrow."

Ten wandered in then, his coat flapping. "Hello, Sally Sparrow!" he shouted, and then tore through the shop to the back, where the cheap movie bins were.

"Where's Nine?" Amy asked him.

"Next door," Ten said, nose in a handful of movies, "he wanted a drink, Martha went with him."

"Who's driving on the way home?" Rose asked.

"Oh, look!" Ten shouted. "It's The Lion King! Why is this in the cheap baskets? This is worth much more than . . ."

Rose shot a look to Amy as he dashed up to Sally Sparrow and demanded that she put it in the more expensive shelves.

"He changed the subject." she said, and Amy nodded sadly.

"Means Nine's driving." she said in a whisper, dropping her voice dramatically. "We'll have to watch a Disney movie tonight to get him back in a good mood."

"He likes Disney?"

"What are we talking about?" Eleven asked in a normal voice, appearing next to them.

"Ten's Disney addiction." Amy said, and began to browse the movie walls.

Eleven nodded thoughtfully. Rose tilted her head back and laughed.

A few minutes later, Amy had found the movie she'd wanted, Ten had finished his rant, and Nine was tapping on the open door.

"Hurry up, you lot. We've got places to be."

* * *

_Things to do_, she was soon to learn, didn't mean the same thing around the Smiths.

They left the TARDIS parked where it was in front of the comic and video shop that belonged to Sally Sparrow, and Eleven dashed ahead of everyone, pulling Amy by the hand like he'd seen someone he knew and he was chasing them – but eventually he stopped in front of a complete stranger, an old man wearing a balloon-patterned tie, arm in arm with his wife.

"Excuse me," Eleven panted, out of breath, "but I like your tie."

The man smiled and tipped his hat as though this happened every day. Eleven smiled an enormous smile.

Rose laughed breathlessly as they caught up. "What did you do that?" she asked, and he grinned brightly, cheeks red from running in the cold air, and shrugged.

"Well, I _did_ like his tie." he said matter-of-factly, as though that explained everything. "Ooh, look, it's a clothes shop!"

He dashed inside and Rose followed him, the others on their heels.

"Look!" Eleven shouted, dashing off to the back of the shop, and they shot apologetic looks at the man behind the counter, who just chuckled and shook his head.

"Amy, hurry, they have hats!" Eleven shouted, and Amy caught up with Rose, took her arm at the elbow, and walked her dramatically over to the hats, plopping a large bonnet askew onto Rose's head before turning to Eleven, who was gleefully trying on a Stetson. Rose laughed at exchanged the bonnet for a straw hat like a farmer's, and imitated an American twang like Jack's.

"Howdy, pardner." she said to Eleven, who giggled madly and tipped his Stetson to her.

"I heard we got a dastardly villain muckin' round in these parts." he said, his accent worse than hers. "So I came up from the town o' Cedarville to do some fixin."

Amy was clutching her stomach, laughing so hard that Rose worried about her oxygen intake.

"I hope you're not going to buy that Stetson." Nine said casually, leaning against the wall and watching them laugh.

Eleven pouted. "Stetsons are cool!"

"I think it's brilliant." Rose said, and Eleven beamed at her, then turned triumphantly to his brothers and sister.

"_See?"_

"Don't encourage him." Amy groaned, and Rose smiled and turned back to the hats. There was a pilot's helmet and goggles pushed to the back of the shelf, a top hat, a beater, and a knitted hat with ear flaps which she snatched and darted over to tug down over Nine's enormous ears. She felt a new hat being pushed onto her own head and turned around to see Ten laughing at retreating to the other side of the store where they kept the sunglasses. Martha was already there, wearing a huge pair of movie-star sunglasses and giggling to herself. He poked her in the nose.

Nine tossed the ear-flap-hat back onto the shelf and rolled his eyes at her. "Funny, Rose."

"I try." she said, grinning at him, and turned to inspect the hat that Ten had put on her. It was a bright red bowler hat, and she laughed and turned around again, intending to walk up to the sunglasses and find some to go with it when a figure in an elaborate mask jumped out from behind a rack of coats.

Rose jumped back, startled. The figure, Amy, started to laugh again, and took her hand. "Just me. There's a bunch of these masks, though, they're gorgeous!"

It was an old-fashioned masquerade mask, white with gold swirls, and Amy led Rose back to the shelf where they were kept and then went to get Martha. The boys were distracted by the pilot's goggles and hat. Nine thought they were a costume, Ten and Eleven thought they were real.

Rose put on a green mask, green and silver with small green feathers. When Martha came, Amy tied on a deep red one for her and then instructed them to get down behind the coats and hide.

Martha and Rose shared a glance that was pure excitement, and Rose grinned happily.

When Amy led the boys over and they jumped out, Ten screamed the loudest, but from the look on his face, Nine was the most scared. Eleven just laughed.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after going into Henrik's and having a riveting game of hide 'n seek in the clothing racks, Ten announced that he wanted to find a CD and dashed across the street to a music shop. Rose and Martha followed him, looking over at each other with a mutual feeling of "well, _someone's_ got to look after him" as they did so.

"We're going down the street to Rory's dad's shop, alright?" Amy shouted at them.

"Sure, we'll meet you there!" Martha called back, stopping and turning around to talk as Rose entered the shop.

Ten was shaking the hand of the bewildered teenager behind the counter, a girl with short, spiky dark hair and multiple piercings in her ears.

"You know, they should have little shops everywhere. Just like this, only ones that sell everything, not just music. I love a little shop. Like in airports, or hospitals! They don't have them in hotels, either. I think they should. What do you think?" Ten asked her, all in one breath.

"I dunno, seems like a nice idea." she shrugged, glancing at him.

"It's a brilliant idea." he said firmly. "Everyone should have a little shop."

"Whatever you say." Rose laughed, leaning against the CD racks with her arms crossed as he searched through them.

He scowled at them as he looked. "Rubbish." he muttered, tossing one to the side. She caught it. Britney Spears.

"I used to love her." she said thoughtfully. He didn't answer, just continued muttering derogatory things as he tossed CDs to the side.

"What are you doing?" Martha called as one of the disks clattered to the ground. Rose glanced back at her. She was standing in the doorway, looking alarmed. "Don't just throw them on the floor!"

Ten glanced at the floor, then at Rose, then at Martha, like he hadn't realized what he'd been doing. Rose collapsed into helpless giggles and Martha sighed, loudly, looking amused now.

The girl at the counter, who had gone in the back for a moment, came back out and saw what they had done. "What the hell?" she shrieked. "Get out of here!"

Ten grabbed Rose's hand and broke into a sprint, Rose still laughing like a hyena. She grabbed Martha's wrist as they passed her, dragging her out of the shop with them. Martha finally started to laugh, too, giving Ten a small smile.

Rose let go of her wrist, deciding not to push it, (she still wasn't sure if Martha even actually liked her or just tolerated her and she didn't want to presume anything) as they ran down the street to Rory's dad's hardware shop.

* * *

When they got there, Eleven was curiously examining some power drills in the back, Nine was leaning against the wall talking to Jack (who waved to Rose and then looked down at her hand entwined with Ten's and raised his eyebrows, she scowled at him and let go to go over and talk to Amy), Amy smiling at her from her position next to Rory, who was working the register, and River leaned out from behind a shelf and waved a pack of something or other at Nine.

"This'll fix your brakes." she said triumphantly.

She tossed it at him and he caught it one-handed. "Thanks."

Amy grinned at her. "I'm trying to convince him," she inclined her head towards Rory, "to skive off work early and come over now instead of in an hour."

"I can't." Rory said, rolling his eyes at her. "My dad wants me to work."

"You're no fun." Amy complained, lacing their fingers together.

"So I've been told." Rory said dryly.

"Rory!" a voice called from upstairs.

"Yeah, Dad?" Rory yelled back, walking over to the bottom of the staircase.

"Where's your trowel? I need it."

"I don't have a trowel." Rory yelled, his face scrunching up, puzzled.

"Oh, well, never mind, I've found one."

"Did you just have it on you?" Rory called, looking more puzzled by the second.

"'Course!" Rory's father shouted. "What sort of a man doesn't own a trowel? Tell you what, I'll buy you one. Put it on your Christmas list."

His father appeared at the top of the stairs and smiled. Rory stared up at him, flummoxed.

"Dad, I'm almost eighteen years old." he said, frowning. "I don't _have_ a Christmas list anymore."

Eleven, who had been examining the shelf of power tools in the back of the shop, spun on his heel and raised his hand enthusiastically. "_I do!_"

Rory gave him a slightly exasperated thumbs up.

* * *

"You'll have to drive me home." she said later, when they were bundled into a warm café and she was eating chips and Eleven was complaining about the lack of decent food, a complaint that the rest of them ignored. Ten tried to steal one of her chips and she slapped at his hand. Martha had a strawberry milkshake mustache and Amy looked over at her and shook her head.

"No, we don't, you're still coming over aren't you? We've got River now, so we can buy the snacks and go home for the movie."

She nodded, she'd nearly forgotten. "Right then, let's get cracking." she said, taking the last chip off the dish, and Amy chuckled and shook her head. She was about to put the chip in her mouth when Ten reached across the table and snatched it, chewing with a smug grin.

She scowled at him and he laughed with his mouth full.

She steadfastly ignored him the whole car ride to the Smith's.

* * *

Martha eyed her once they were there and she refused to touch the popcorn bowl he tried to pass to her as a peace offering in the middle of _Lilo and Stitch_.

"You can't be that angry with him."

"Those were _my_ chips." she muttered, and he threw popcorn at her head. Nine rolled his eyes and sank down on the couch next to her, offering her his own popcorn, which she took and ate a few pieces.

"That's not _fair."_ Ten complained.

"Shut up, you're missing the movie." Amy said, with her head on Rory's lap, gesturing to the screen, where Stitch was holding _The Ugly Duckling_ and searching for his family in the woods.

Ten quickly became reabsorbed in the plot and didn't seem to remember that Rose was angry until after the credits, by which case she was over it.

"Have you forgiven me yet?" he asked conversationally, and she rolled her eyes, and threw a piece of popcorn at him, which seemed to be all the answer he needed.

* * *

Amy stood up and rolled her shoulders. "Right," she announced, "before I kick you boys out so River, Martha, Rose and me can have some much-needed girl time, I'm going to teach you to dance."

"I thought you were teaching them last weekend." River spoke up.

"Well, we never got to it-"

"Because you flipped and we had to go get you tea-"

"-Shut up, Ten, anyway, I'll have to teach you now. We've even got partners since the others are here, it'll be brilliant."

"Who do _I_ get to dance with?" Jack asked from his position stretched out on the couch.

"I already _can_ dance." Eleven complained.

"No, you can't." Ten, Nine, and Amy answered.

"Do we have to do this now?" Ten added, looking deeply displeased at this turn of events.

"You are going to dance at my wedding so help me God," Amy said, "so you might as well learn. Don't want you making a fool of yourselves."

Nine stretched out on the couch, mirroring Jack, and yawned – Rose suspected simply to make a point, he didn't seem tired. Amy scowled at them.

In the hour that followed, only Eleven failed to learn to dance – but Amy pronounced that he was a lost cause, anyway. Rose danced with Jack, who wasn't bad, Ten, who was rather bad, and Nine, who was, surprisingly, excellent. Amy played old waltzes and they took turns dancing with each other, Eleven ignoring traditional dancing rules entirely, Nine taking a turn with everyone because he was the best, Jack sitting on the couch and pretending to be annoyed at being upstaged.

River kissed Eleven's cheek and told him that she'd still dance with him, even if he was awful.

"I'm not _awful._" he protested.

"Whatever you say, sweetie."

* * *

They fell asleep in the living room, next to the fireplace, in a pile of limbs and sleeping bags, and Rose's last coherent thought was that this was the most fun she had ever had.

* * *

_A/N: Well, here you are - took me a while, but I got it to you. I'm not honestly sure how I feel about this chapter - sorry for so much filler - but I think it works pretty well. And their Adventures are certainly cute. Also, a wild Sherlock has appeared. I heard from a few of you that you were upset about him and John not being around much yet - don't worry, they will be. The actual plot will be making an appearance soon, heh._

_As always, I don't own Doctor Who, but I do appreciate reviews. Anyone who reviews will receive their very own TARDIS - specially grown, able to take you anywhere in the universe.*_

_Thanks to all of you who've stuck with this story and are reviewing. If you've got anything to say, about the plot or your thoughts on the story, I'd love to hear it.  
_

_xx Ninjee_

_*TARDISes do not come equipped with a) instruction manuals or b) Timelords._


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